My Scars Burn Bright Against the Dark Dark Night
by ImagiTheNation
Summary: Katia had scars. She'd had them for a very long time. But sometimes scars are the very key to what makes you special. Little did she know that these scars would show her a world she'd only dreamt of; full of monsters, magic, heroes, and villains. But if there is one thing she can remember, it's that EVERYONE deserves a second chance. It's never too late. /-/ Doctor Strange included
1. Prologue

**Mostly OC-Centric, with some split offs of other character's POV.**

 **Warnings will be at the head of each chapter.**

 **Story-wide warning: This IS an action story, there will be blood and injury and death. There will also later come some themes of suicide, depression, panic disorders, etc. If you are uncomfortable I assume you'll stop reading. Although I will admit I'm tamer compared to some writers.**

 **No smut. Only fluff. No hard swears.** **...I forgot what I was going to say next...**

 **Well. I hope you enjoy, there are some fun characters and wacky situations to come, so BE EXCITED. ;D**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Prologue**

They said the Norns had been awoken. After 4,000 years of silent slumber.

Why or how, it was not known. But the realms had begun to recognize their had again, weaving the fates of everything living.

It was beautiful.

It was terrifying.

Magic shifted, life evolved, things... changed.

The ancient ways of their disciples resurfaced and entire planets feared their cult. But the Aesir, always vigilant in protecting the Nine, contained the threat as far as they saw fit.

The Nine Realms were safe.

Or, at least, that was how the legends told it.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Natasha Romanoff took a deep breath. A dim light flickered and the woman glanced around the shuttle. Agents stood ready in combat armor and heavily armed. Waiting. The mission was simple. Take down and round up the enemy while Agent Romanoff extracted the artifact.

Natasha took in another calming breath. Then why do I feel so... wrong? She thought. The agent felt the shuttle slowing and shook off the uneasy feeling. It was time to move.

The shuttle stopped, the door slid open, and all hell broke loose.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Agent Romanoff made her way quickly throughout the halls of the facility they were attacking, taking out anyone she met along the way. So far, everything was going according to plan.

The redhead followed the memorized layout and stealthily entered the main laboratory. Her brows furrowed at seeing the middleaged scientist with his back to her. No one was supposed to be here. But she was good at improvising.

The agent fired 3 shots at the man with her handgun. She saw the bullets make contact, blood began to slowly seep through his lab coat. But he didn't collapse. He didn't even flinch. Natasha's eyes widened. Something started glowing behind the man and Natasha watched in horror as the scientist slowly turned around. Agent Romanoff stared in fear at the sight before her. The man's eyes were glowing with a bright whitish green light, an awful grin was plastered across his pale face, and his spindly fist clutched a glowing object.

He laughed, spurring Natasha into action. She unloaded her gun on the terrifying sight and blood splattered over his surroundings, soaking his lab coat and shirt in red. Nothing phased the scientist. He continued laughing.

Natasha leapt over a desk, reloaded her gun, and continued firing at the man. The object he was clutching crackled and shone brighter and glowing cracks started forming across his face and hands.

Natasha was terrified. She had never faced anything like this. It was so far out her sphere of experience.

Apparently her shooting was starting to get his attention though. The scientist's eerie glowing eyes locked on to Natasha. Her own eyes widened and she stepped back. She reached for her communicator. The cracks in the man's skin were growing wider and brighter and his back was slowly starting to arch.

Natasha called into her communicator, "Clint, I-"

Suddenly a flash. She was suspended in a world of white light and hot pain. She hung there, burning and freezing from the inside out, for what seemed like an eternity.

And then, mercifully, she lost conciousness.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Natasha awoke, disoriented, in the helicarrier medbay. A medic noticed her conciousness and quickly notified her of the most immediate symptoms. Nothing vital had been damaged and her body simply needed rest. After the quick briefing, the medic left, letting Director Fury enter the room.

"What happened?" Natasha asked when Fury sat in the armchair next to her bed.

"That's what I'm hoping you could tell me." Fury said quietly. "The official story is that an explosion went off in that lab, the artifact was destroyed, and you just happened to survive by taking cover behind a desk or some crap like that."

Nat simply stared.

Fury continued. "I think we both know that something else happened. And I need to know. There's been some…" he hesitated, "concerning… evidence brought to the table and it directly involves you, Romanoff."

Natasha's brows furrowed and she took a breath. "Well, it's… a bit hard to believe…"

Fury waited for her to continue.

Nat told him everything.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

After Natasha had finished speaking, Fury sat still in the armchair for several minutes, silently mulling over her words.

"Agent Romanoff, how are you feeling?"

The question caught her a bit off guard.

"A bit disoriented and sore, but otherwise fine." she said.

Nick nodded slowly. "Hm."

The woman looked to him for further clarification of his intentions.

"Well, Miss Romanoff, I have an assignment for you."

Natasha blinked, confused.

"First of all, you are going to stay here for a week and recuperate."

Nat nodded, still slightly confused.

"Then I have a very special mission for you. You're going deep undercover for quite a long time. I'm having you set up as a translator at the World Trade Center. You'll be partnered with one of our newer agents, Joseph Larkford. He is simply there for added protection and a helping hand."

"If you believe it's necessary, sir." Natasha said.

"I do." Fury continued, "I need you to know that this is highest level security. You are going very very deep undercover."

"Yes sir." Agent Romanoff said. She was ready and willing for any mission he had for her.

"Good." Fury stood up, making his way towards the door.

"Sir" Romanoff stopped him. "May I know the purpose of this mission?"

Fury paused, then spoke quietly, "Agent Romanoff, your mission is to raise a child."

Natasha's eyes widened. "Sir. I- I don't think I understand. I'm- I mean…"

Fury smiled briefly. "Relax." he paused once more. "We don't know why or how, Miss Romanoff. And frankly it was physically impossible. But something about that explosion with the artifact caused that miracle to occur…"

"What?"

"Congratulations, Natasha Romanoff... You're Pregnant."


	2. Field Trip

**Hello fangirls and fanboys! Tis I! ImagiTheNation! Back once again.**

 **My Scars Burn Bright starts out a bit slow, so bear with me please. I have to cram in a lot of background information without shoving it in your lap all at once. This story does start several years before The Avengers and their related films. (Spoilers) It actually starts in 2001. (Specific dates and real history and all). If you can figure out the specific date before I mention it, review and I will give you digital cookies. (::) (::) (::). ;D. They're chocolate chip. So, kudos to whoever can guess. BUT SERIOUSLY, REVIEW. REVIEWS ARE LIFE. Aaaaaaaaaaannnndd... I guess on to the story. (P.S. It's mostly OC-centric with parts of Loki-centric, But NO they will not be shipped... at least... not romantically...)**

 **P.S. My writing greatly improves as I write the story. Ya know... practice and all that. So please be patient with any typos, mistakes, OOC-ness, and/or shallow writing... I'm working on it. Believe me, the story will get so much more interesting once you reach the major plot points...**

 **Chapter One: Field Trip**

Loki was rudely awoken to his breath being knocked out of him by a sudden weight. Thor had bellyflopped onto him.

"C'mon Loki, get up already!" Thor shouted jovially as he shook Loki's shoulders.

"I would if you would get off of me!" Loki grunted irritatedly. He was struggling to breathe, and so far, it wasn't working.

Thor didn't seem to notice Loki's labored panting and just continued to sit on top of Loki's chest.

"Thor -" Loki wheezed, "can't - *pant*pant* -breathe! -"

Thor finally seemed to notice his brother's distress and hopped off the bed. Loki sat up, taking in big gulps of air.

"Why, in all the Nine, do you insist on doing that _every single time_?" Loki asked irritatedly. Thor just shrugged.

"What do you want me for, anyway?" Loki growled, still not coming out of his foul mood.

"We're going hunting on Vanaheim!" Thor exclaimed jubilantly.

Loke glared at him in disbelief. "You… woke me up… at this unholy hour… for a _HUNTING TRIP…"_

Thor looked slightly confused. "Yes, brother. I just said that. You, me, the Warriors Three, and Sif are going hunting on Vanaheim."

Loki lowered his face into his hands. "Thooooorrrr," he groaned, "When are you going to get it into your thick skull that I _do not want to come_ on your little trips."

"Oh, come brother!" Thor joked as he punched Loki's arm, "You can't spend _all_ your time in the library!"

Loki rubbed his arm and glowered at Thor. "I don't!" He snapped.

"You're right, you come down to meals… sometimes." Thor said, slightly sarcastically. "Come, you need to be around _people_ , not just dusty old tomes."

Loki stood and walked to his balcony.

"At least my _books_ don't act like idiots and make foolish mistakes every five seconds, making it _my_ responsibility to make sure you don't kill yourself, start a war, or both." Loki said as Thor approached him.

"Oh, come on! I'm not _that_ reckless."

Loki stared deadpan at him.

"Brother, you _need_ to come with us!" Thor said, oblivious to Loki's intent

Loki opened his mouth to object again but Thor cut him off. "Plus, Mother said you had to come."

Loki glared out across the waking city. He stayed like that for a moment before he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to regret this…"

Thor's face lit up. "Thank you, brother! You shall not be disappointed!"

He gave Loki a brief bone-crushing hug then rushed out the door.

Loki shook his head again and walked in to get changed.

"Why do I even put up with this…?" He mumbled.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Almost everything was packed and ready by the time Loki came out to meet the group. Thor, Volstagg, and Hogun were already astride their horses- a Palomino Clydesdale with white feathered socks; a huge, slightly chubby, red and grey roan Belgian; and a pitch black Arabian; respectively- while Sif was gathering some last minute supplies and Fandral was feeding his Andalusian Buckskin stallion an apple or two. A stable-hand gave Loki the reigns of his dark Dappled Grey Arabian and Loki mounted it gracefully.

Sif packed the last of the supplies onto her large white Friesian. She glanced at Loki.

"Finally decided to show up, eh?" She said with a sour smirk.

Loki looked down on her cooly. "I wouldn't be here unless you truly needed me," He smirked, "And Thor made that plenty clear when he was _begging_ me to join you."

She huffed and turned to Thor, "We _have_ Hogun. He's a perfectly fine tracker."

Thor frowned, slightly confused.

"Besides," Loki drawled, "If it weren't for me, you'd probably come back with only a few rodents, due to Thor's tendency to walk in circles."

Sif frowned.

"Ah, give him a little slack, Loki, my friend," Fandral said lightly, "We all know that it would probably be Volstagg's fault. His stomach would grumble loud enough to frighten everything away."

Volstagg chuckled.

"Well, then good thing we brought extra venison!" Thor said happily, "Now come! Let us not waste another moment!"

Loki grumbled slightly as Hogun and Sif passed him on his horse, before he started forward to follow the group.

The band of warriors galloped out of the courtyard, through the streets, and onto the rainbow bridge, chatting and teasing the whole way. Volstagg had already eaten half a large bag of dried berries by the time they reached the Bifrost dome. And Sif had whacked both Fandral and Thor over the head, at least twice, for some comments they had made about her.

"Good morning Your Majesties, Sif, and Warriors Three." Heimdall nodded to each as he spoke, "Tis a fine day for a good hunt."

"Tis indeed!" Thor boomed joyfully.

"I trust your Father knows of your venture?" Heimdall said as he walked over to the pedestal in the center of the Bifrost dome.

Loki turned to Thor expectantly. He hadn't thought of that. Surely Thor had asked permission.

"Not necessarily…" Thor grinned.

Loki groaned and facepalmed, followed by similar, more subtle, actions from the other warriors.

"I _did_ , however, tell Queen Frigga that we were going." Thor interjected.

Volstagg exhaled and wiped his forehead. "Pfew!"

Fandral grinned and Hogun nodded slightly.

Heimdall watched the exchange silently, then spoke up. "Well, then let us not waste another moment."

He stepped forward and placed his mighty sword into its slot. The dome lit up and began to spin. Thor trotted forward on his horse, followed by the warriors. One by one, they were sucked into the whirlpool of colorful lights. Loki, being the last, paused for a moment and looked back at Heimdall. He studied the familiar face for a moment then smiled. Heimdall nodded his head. Loki rode forward through the portal.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki wanted to bang his head against a rock. They had been following a bilgesnipe's trail for several hours with nothing to show for it. And Thor _would not stop whining._

"Looooookkiiii, _Please_ tell me we're getting close." Thor said impatiently for the seventh time that day.

Loki looked up from the tracks he was examining and answered disdainfully. "We're getting close." He deadpanned.

"Really?!" Thor said hopefully.

"No, you dunghead!" Loki rolled his eyes, exasperated, " _**No**_. Like every other time you've asked me in the past five minutes."

Thor huffed angrily.

"Could you at least give us a time frame?" Fandral said hopefully.

Loki hummed slightly. "I don't think… hmmm… if we're lucky, it's a day's journey ahead of us."

The group frowned.

"Are you sure you don't want to try something a bit easier?" Loki asked the Warriors and Thor.

They all suddenly looked offended.

"No!" Thor said adamantly, "This bilgesnipe is our prize, and I shall not forsake it!"

Loki sighed. "Very well, then. Keep going north," He directed, "Make sure you don't cross the river yet."

The group bolted forward on their steeds, galloping in said direction and running right along the river.

Loki surveyed the forest around them. The sunlight gleamed through the pale leaves, making odd mottled shapes on the forest floor. The river tumbled playfully over logs and boulders to their right. The scent of rain still lingered in the air from a light fall earlier. Over all, it was a beautiful day.

Loki galloped behind the others, allowing himself a small smile at the breeze in his hair. This expedition might almost be enjoyable if everyone would just shut up.

Volstagg looked over his shoulder to the younger god. "How far should we go?" he asked.

Loki slowed a bit and glanced at the tracks on the ground and the breakage in the underbrush. He paused, calculating.

"I would say... " He looked up again, "Probably a mile and a half, then we'll see if we need to cross the river or not. It seems to be going on a fairly straight cou -"

"Alright!" Fandral cut in. "A mile it is." He smiled dashingly at Sif- who rolled her eyes- then trotted forward. The rest of the group shrugged and followed him.

Loki glared daggers at the back of Fandral's head as the band moved on.

Thor punched his brother on the shoulder. "Come, Brother. Don't want to get cold feet." Thor joked.

Loki rubbed his arm and glared at Thor too.

"Oh, come on. Lighten up, Loki! You love a good joke." Thor chuckled

"Only when it's not on me…" Loki mumbled as they caught up to the other warriors.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The sun was beginning to set by the time they finally decided to set up camp. Thor had wanted to continue, but after thousands of reasons from Loki and one reason from Sif, he gave in.

They had erected their tents and Loki had started a fire, so they were just waiting for Sif to return with more firewood.

The Warriors Three sat on logs close to the fire, roasting some tiny deer-like mammals they had felled earlier that day. Thor sat on the ground munching on the last of the dried venison they had packed. Loki was reading.

It was a thrilling tale about a group of misfits that were travelling through space, as outlaws, while trying to find a powerful artifact and destroy it before someone evil got their hands on it. Loki thought it was quite entertaining and not at all impossible.

Loki was in the middle of a very good chapter when Fandral stopped his conversation with Volstagg and Hogun to look at Loki's book choice.

He snorted. "Still reading that rubbish?

Loki looked up and glared at the irritating blonde.

"Fandral continued, "Space sagas were soooo 500 years ago." He playfully hit Volstagg and the redhead chuckled. Hogun smiled.

Loki continued glaring at Fandral. "Says the man who's never picked up a book in his life unless it was a required textbook… and I doubt you touched those either. That's probably why you completely flunked the Æsir history test. And the science test. And the -"

"Yeah, yeah. We get the point Loki." Fandral said. "You like being smarter than us. Well, who needs smarts when you can just stab whatever's causing the problem?"

Loki lowered his face into his hand and massaged his forehead. _Why? Why were they so_ _ **stupid?**_ "No, Fandral. That wouldn't work in almost any situation…" Loki mumbled.

Fandral kept talking. "At least _I_ didn't fail the physical portion."

Loki stiffened slightly but spoke back cooly. "My friend, I think you're losing your touch. You've used that one before."

Fandral smirked. "Isn't that right, Thor?"

Thor looked up from his jerky, his mouth full and confusion on his face. "Whuth?"

Loki snapped his book shut and stood. "If you need me, I'll be in the tent." Loki then walked away briskly.

Thor swallowed. "I'm confused…" he said slowly.

"Loki just being dramatic." Volstagg chuckled.

"He tends to do that a lot." Hogun said quietly.

Thor nodded. "Indeed."

Sif walked up to the group with a bundle of sticks in her arms. "What did I miss?" she said.

The men looked at each other briefly before bursting out into laughter.

Sif stared at them then shook her head. "Boys are weird."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki lay on his bedding, staring at the ceiling of the tent and listening to the others' conversation. As usual, it was about him.

"I just don't get it, though" Fandral's voice wafted through the buckskin.

 _You wouldn't. You blubbering idiot._ Loki thought.

"Get what?" Sif asked.

Fandral continued. "After all these decades, you'd have thought he would pick up the clues."

Loki listened carefully.

Thor spoke, "What clues? If there were clues, Loki would find them. He's smart like that."

Loki smiled softly.

"That's just the thing though," Fandral said, "You would have thought that he would figure out that he's not the same as us."

 _Obviously… I'm the only sensible one in the entire court._ Loki thought.

"Loki's _different_. Like not in the way that most of us are different… he's just…. weird."

"He is younger than us" Hogun said.

"Yes, but none of us were like that." Volstagg said.

"I mean, he spends most of his time reading those ridiculous books, a good portion of which are fiction. Who _does_ that?" Fandral pointed out.

Loki glanced at the book he'd brought along and frowned.

"Loki loves knowledge." Thor said.

"Yes but who reads for _fun_?" Fandral said.

"Apparently, Loki." Sif interjected.

"And he's the only one." Fandral said, trying to prove his point. "And I guess I get why he does the whole magic thing. He can hardly hold out a practice duel with a broadsword. Don't even _mention_ a battle axe."

Loki glared at the ceiling.

Thor spoke and Loki's spirits lifted a bit for a moment, hoping his brother would stick up for him.

"Loki… struggles… with the strength factors, yes." Thor said slowly. Loki's spirits fell. He let out a long breath through his nose.

"But he makes up for it in speed." Thor said quietly.

Volstagg chuckled. "Yes. And speed is going to help a _ton_ with a giant army of Frost Giants."

 _Yes. It would._ Loki thought venomously.

He heard them shifting.

"We need every asset." Thor said. "Even if it is the strange and sometimes… questionable ones."

Loki rolled onto his side, away from the door of the tent and glared at the wall.

There was a long silence occasionally broken by the the crackling of the fire. Then a voice spoke up. It was Sif.

"Well. I'm going to turn in for the night. If you want full strength for tomorrow, you should too."

There was a lot of rustling as the warriors stood and headed to their respective tents. Sif to her own, the Warriors Three to another, and Thor to the one Loki was currently in.

Loki closed his eyes and took even breaths as Thor entered. The elder prince saw his younger brother fast asleep and smiled. He prepared for bed and lay down, falling asleep almost instantly. Loki opened his eyes. _Thor is ridiculously easy to fool._ He lay there… waiting.

 **Yes I did edit a lot of stuff in this story. Names, ages, etc. Just know that it doesn't change the actually story. Just some elements that needed to be updated.**

 **Sorry if anyone's a little OOC. I'm still getting into the groove.**

 **Anywho.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW**


	3. New World

**Chapter Two: New World**

Loki lay awake, staring at the side of the tent. Thor was snoring loudly by his side. When Loki was confident that everyone in the camp was asleep, he quietly stood and exited the tent, pausing only when Thor stirred a little. Loki smoothed out his travel clothes that he hadn't changed out of. They were a little rumpled from being under his furs. Silently he made his way over to the horses.

"Time to see if this old spell works through the paths…" Loki muttered to himself as he took the reigns of his horse. He had done his concealment spell many times now, but hadn't tried holding it while going through Yggdrasil, yet. He needed to test it when it wouldn't matter if Heimdall knew where he was, but would still alert someone that he had gone.

After whispering some runes to himself, Loki mounted his stallion and turned to leave. He glanced at Thor's tent for a moment. _Hogun is fairly good at tracking. I'm sure they'll be fine without me for a few days._ He thought. Then he turned once more and galloped off into the night.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

After riding for several miles, Loki finally came to the place he was looking for. There were many portals between the realms, and only Loki knew where all of them were. He prided himself immensely in the fact that he didn't _need_ the Bifrost, ever. It was just… convenient.

The portals in Vanaheim were usually behind waterfalls or between certain trees. This one happened to be behind a small waterfall.

The crevice behind the fall was too small for a horse, so Loki dismounted. He let go of the reigns and whispered something into his steed's ear. The playful Arabian whinnied and tossed his head not unlike a nod. Loki nodded back and patted his horse's neck. It turned and trotted back to the camp and could slip it's reigns back onto the branch they were tied to earlier, a trick Loki had taught it long ago. It was smart like that.

Loki turned to the waterfall. He jogged forward and took a running leap onto a rock in the water. No need to get his boots wet. He lept to a couple more stepping stones before landing on the patch ground behind the waterfall.

The young Asgardian sidled forward and slipped in between the sharp rock faces that lined the small tunnel. He smirked to himself. None of the others could fit through here. It was a perk of being lean. He could just picture Thor getting stuck and Volstagg not even being able to attempt.

The passageway widened and there was a small cave, the back wall of which shimmered with energy. The Portal.

Loki smiled, checked to make sure his enchantment was in place, and stepped forward off of Vanaheim…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

… And onto Midgard.

At first, Loki thought he had gone through the wrong portal: It looked more like one of the dingier factories on Nidavellir. But then he looked around at the rubbish bins that lined the alleyway and noticed the labels. English. So he _was_ on Midgard.

He walked slowly and warily forward to the front of the alley. The sight that greeted him was extremely unexpected. Bright flashing lights and tall buildings were everywhere. Humans thronged through the streets despite the late hour. Strange vehicles sped past on black roads. Loki was _very_ confused. The last time he'd been to Midgard was when England had several colonies over in the "New World".

Loki did a double-take. Was that woman wearing _pants_? Were _all_ the women wearing pants? _Fashion has certainly changed._ Loki thought, glancing at his clothes. _Focus. The whole reason you're here is to practice blending in._ He surveyed the city in front of him. _Well, I'm due for a history lesson…_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki watched the people passing by. He specifically watched those who seemed to be about the equivalent of his age. Loki finally detected a pattern in many of the young men's' clothing and created an outfit for himself; An olive green v-neck t-shirt, dark jeans, and green converse. He didn't see very many people in leather, but he wanted to keep his own touch, so he added a black leather jacket.

He crept to the front of the alley, looked both ways, then casually strolled out. He blended easily with the crowds. He let the flow of foot-traffic take him deeper into the city, which he discovered was _enormous_ for a Midgardian City… _Or are they all this big?_ Loki thought for a moment. He shrugged it off.

After wandering around for quite a while, Loki decided he needed to find somewhere where he could access a lot of information. He needed a library. Glancing around, Loki chose a random shop with its lights on, and entered. As soon as he opened the door, a wave of warm air rushed out, enveloping him in a strange scent. It was both bitter and sweet with a hint of other flavors. Cream, chocolate, pumpkin, caramel, and others he didn't recognise. Loki entered slowly, cautiously.

There were tables, chairs, and a couple booths. At the back of the room there was a long counter with some barstools. A young lady, wearing an apron, sat behind the counter staring at a small rectangular thing. There was one other person in the shop; another young woman in a corner booth, typing on another strange piece of technology and sipping at a thick brownish beverage in a transparent cup.

The woman behind the counter looked up and smiled, her bright blonde hair bobbing a bit in her ponytail. "Welcome to J's Coffee Shop." She put down her rectangular thing and stood. Loki prowled casually forward, almost to the counter, then stopped. She continued, "We have a free sample of today's special: Hazelnut Supreme, if you would like to try something before buying anything," She gestured to a large chalkboard menu above and behind her.

Loki glanced at it, then spoke, "Is it alright if I have the sample but don't buy anything?" The woman frowned. "I'm a little low on money at the moment."

She brightened up at record speed. "Of course!" She chirped.

Loki walked all the way up to the counter and sat at one of the stools. The Blonde busied herself with preparing the strange beverage.

She set a full cup in front of the Asgardian. He gave her a questioning look. "This is your sample size?" Loki asked.

"No, it's a small."

"I don't have any money…" Loki said.

"It's on me." She smiled, "You seem like a nice guy and yonder geek doesn't talk much." She gestured to the dark-haired woman in the corner. She was wearing an oversized sweater, leggings, ugg boots, a beanie, and glasses.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

The Blonde shook her head slowly, "Hipsters love coffee shops…"

Loki shrugged and took a sip of the drink. The taste exploded in his mouth. Sweet chocolate with the perfect blend of bitter nuttiness.

Loki hummed contentedly to himself. The Blonde chuckled, "I take it you like it?"

"This is amazing. It's… like… drinking satisfaction and contentment… like drinking that joy you get on a rainy morning in a library, surrounded by thousands of books… but with chocolate." Loki said happily.

"Aren't you quite the poet." Blonde giggled and blushed.

Loki smirked, "I've been told I have a Silver tongue…"

"Certainly. I like your accent, by the way." She said, "Where are you from? London?"

The dark-haired man paused, "Westminster." He nodded, "And you?"

"Born and raised a Yankee." She spouted proudly.

He had no clue what that meant, so Loki just nodded.

The Asgardian took another sip of his delightful beverage and savoured the delicious flavour.

He had a thought. "Pardon me, but I never asked your name…"

She smiled and stuck out her hand, "Hello, my name is Kayda Jennings."

He smiled and shook her hand, "Loki."

Kayda tilted her head, "I've never met anyone with that name before…"

"Nor I with a Kayda." Loki said.

"Touché." Kayda shrugged.

There was a comfortable silence as Loki slurped his drink. The hipster stood and left with her laptop.

More silence.

Finally Loki spoke, "Do you normally get customers at this hour?..."

Kayda looked at a clock on the wall. "At 11:30 pm? Not usually."

Loki raised his hands in surrender, "I can leave if it's too late…"

"Nah." Kayda shrugged. "I'm the owner of the shop so I can choose when to close. I was just waiting for Hipster to leave… But then you walked in."

Loki smiled. "Well I don't want to keep you up, so I'll finish quickly." he paused, then remembered something. "Lady Kayda, You wouldn't happen to know where the library is, would you?"

"New York City Library? Lions and everything? It's just a few blocks down, but it doesn't open until 7:00."

Loki nodded thoughtfully. _Ah. So this is New York City. I remember New York… not_ this _New York, but New York nonetheless. Oh yes… Yankee… Dutch... Talk of revolution…_ He continued sipping at his drink until it was finally gone.

Kayda noticed his empty cup and took it from him. She cleaned up her workspace for a couple of minutes before Loki spoke.

"Do you need any assistance, Lady Jennings?"

The Blonde looked up from the counter she was wiping down. "I - uhh… okay." She seemed confused. Kayda then brightened up. "Actually, yeah! Sure. That would be great. I have another rag right there, you can wipe down any tables that look dirty."

Loki grabbed said rag and started wiping down each table, working beside Kayda. They finished quickly and Kayda put the rags away. Loki watched as she gathered up her purse and slipped on her coat. He held open the door for her as they exited.

"Thank you." Kayda said as she locked the shop door. She smiled, "You're such a gentleman. Don't see a lot of those these days…"

Loki just smiled. He glanced around. Lady Jennings didn't seem to have one of the transportation vehicles he saw constantly crowding the streets.

He frowned, then turned to the blonde woman. "Would you perhaps like me to walk you home? I see you don't have transportation. And as you said, you don't meet very many gentlemen these days."

Kayda blinked then smiled, "That would be wonderful."

And so they started walking. Loki listened politely as Kayda spoke about her family, her work, her schooling, and her friends. And he offered a comment here and there. Loki was learning much from the quirky little Midgardian about many things in Midgardian culture in these past few years.

Finally, they arrived at Kayda's apartment building.

"Thank you so much, Loki." She said sweetly, "I hope you come by every once and awhile."

"Twas my pleasure, Lady Jennings." Loki said.

Kayda giggled "You're funny."

Then she stood on her tippytoes, planted a small peck on Loki's cheek, and entered the building, leaving Loki on the steps.

He blinked, then shook his head. _Focus, you idiot! Get to the library._

Loki strolled off down the street in the direction Kayda had said the library was. He needed to do some studying...

 **PLEASE REVIEW**


	4. Strange Magic

**Again. All the awards to whoever guesses what the date is before I mention it.**

 **Chapter Three: Strange Magic**

Loki groaned and straightened up. A book fell off of his lap and landed on the floor with a thump. The noise startled the Asgardian awake fully. He sat at a table surrounded entirely by books. Loki had snuck into the New York City Library and spent the entire night researching Midgardian Culture. Turns out there were many, but currently he was in the United States of America which had a Western Culture. First world country and all that…

Loki rubbed his face with his hands. _How long have I been out?_ He thought. Glancing at a clock on the wall, he discovered it was almost time for the library to open: 6:50 am. Loki cursed himself for being so careless.

Hurriedly putting away his mountain of books into their correct places, Loki then snuck back out of the library and joined the early-birds on the streets.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It started out as a lovely morning. Her mother was already at work at the World Trade Center. Her uncle was waiting for his shift at the firehouse. They were making waffles.

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down on the jam, Funsize!" her uncle exclaimed as the small ginger started cheerfully dumping the entire jar of deep red strawberry jam onto her waffle.

She looked up at him innocently and he laughed. Her soft giggle joined his deep chuckle.

They ate and laughed for a while. Soon they were cleaning up the breakfast mess.

"So, Funsize, which book did you steal from my bookshelf this time?" the man said joyfully. She looked up bashfully and mumbled something about not being caught. Her uncle laughed again.

"Don't think I wouldn't notice the empty slot. You have to think ahead. Use that big brain of yours."

She looked at him with confused gray eyes. "Are you saying I _should_ steal?"

He chuckled. "Only from me; and only if it isn't important. Just remember, if you _are_ going to try and steal from me, you've got to make sure I don't notice for at least a day or two. Otherwise, I _will_ have to discipline you."

"Why are you teaching me this?" She asked.

"Stealth is an important skill." He smiled. "Besides, it might come in handy someday."

They talked about her interests while he got ready to go. He loved hearing her stories and dreams. They were always full of color. Bright reds, deep blues, royal purples, vibrant yellows, comforting greens.

He dropped her off at the daycare on the way to the fire station. The toddler hugged him tightly and he promised to pick her up after his shift. She smiled cheerily and waved as he drove away.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki strolled through the throngs of people, taking in the sights around him. Midgard had changed so much since he'd last been here. America was an independent country and had an entirely new type of government. And apparently a lot of other countries had copied it, to some degree.

Their technology was far from reaching Asgardian level, but they were progressing rapidly.

Suddenly Loki stopped in his tracks. A man bumped into him.

"Hey! Watch it!" the man said, quite annoyed.

"Sorry…" Loki mumbled, as he looked distractedly onward. The crowds flowed around him as he stood there.

He had sensed magic. Unfamiliar magic. Or at least energy that felt like magic.

He started walking briskly.

Loki followed the strange energy for several blocks. It was getting stronger as he neared it, like a big game of hot and cold.

He saw two very tall rectangular buildings a couple blocks away. The energy seemed to be coming from that area. He broke into a jog.

He was in the shadow of the large buildings when suddenly he felt the energy decrease a bit. Loki backtracked. He saw a small building with large windows painted with childish drawings of brightly colored suns and flowers. Children played in and around the building in an enclosure. _A Daycare?_ Loki thought.

He took a step towards it. The Asgardian felt a rush of tingling travel over his skin. Yes. This was definitely the place.

Loki walked to where he could see the entire Daycare and most of the inhabitants, but they couldn't see him. He reached out with his magic, his eyes glowing green, probing for the source of the energy. It was strong, and raw, … and dangerous.

He saw her almost immediately; a small child, maybe only 3-4 years old for a Midgardian. She seemed very different from the rest of the children. An outcast. The other young ones tended to ignore her. It was hard to imagine how, though. The toddler was filled to the brim with the new energy. It radiated off of her in waves, parting around everyone else harmlessly and seemingly undetected. The energy's harsh white light burned against Loki's magic-enhanced eyes, causing him to begin developing a headache.

He released his spell, not being able to stand the overflow of magical energy. But now Loki was captivated. _How is this Midgardian child holding this much magic and not burning up? Is it even magic? Can Midgardians even hold magic? Is she even Midgardian?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise. _What in the Nine Realms_ is _that?_

 **I know the chapter is a bit short, but more is coming.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW**


	5. Nine Eleven

**Aaaaannnd now it's too late for you to guess the date... CUZ I SAID IT...**

 **Action, blood, fear, tears, etc. All are contained in this chapter... Just FYI. Not much, though. IDK... read on!**

 **P.S. Thanks Dragoncat, for reviewing. I promise, all will be revealed soon... well... maybe not _soon_... but definitely eventually.**

 **Chapter Four: Nine Eleven**

The redhead looked up in surprise. What was that noise? It was different from the normal New York City noises. It was loud and harsh. She stood up from the table, where she was drawing a picture for her mother, and ran over to the daycare lady.

"Heather? What's that noise?"

The brown haired woman looked over from helping a boy with his Play-doh. "What noise?"

"The one that's kind of hurting my ears… Don't you hear it?"

Heather was very confused. "Sorry hon. I don't hear anything. Are you sure it isn't the funny whining noise you get when it's quiet?"

The girl shook her head. "This one is deep. And it hurts. It's getting louder too."

Heather frowned for a moment. Suddenly she froze. She _did_ hear something. It was very quiet but was increasing in volume. She couldn't quite figure out what it was. As the noise grew, other children looked up from their playthings. Heather stood and went to the ceiling height window. She couldn't quite place it. Was it- _No, it couldn't be possible, no airlines went over Manhattan._

The noise was now almost earsplitting. Heather paled. It sounded exactly like a plane. Suddenly there was a deafening crash. Heather watched, horrified as a plane crashed into one of the Twin towers. She let out a loud sob.

"Everyone to the emergency exit.!" Heather called out to the children. The daycare was only a bit away from the Trade Center. If that tower came down, their building would be buried in rubble.

There was a mad dash as they all started to grab their projects and jackets.

"No no no! Leave the projects. Just grab your coats and go!" Heather said frantically as she pushed a confused blond girl towards the exit and shooed everyone out the door. She led everyone to the bus and started it, looking up at the towers with terror every few seconds. Finally she put the bus into drive and sped out of the parking lot to the other joint daycare, a couple miles away. She did not look back for fear of what may lay behind.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki watched in shock as a Midgardian flying contraption, _an airplane_ , crashed into one of the two towers he'd seen earlier.

People everywhere were screaming and running. Smoke billowed into the sky, starting to cover the sun. Sirens wailed a few streets over. The young Asgardian stood frozen in his spot, not knowing whether to go help or to turn heel and run. _Does this happen often? Was it an accident?_ Loki thought.

Just then another airplane crashed into the _other_ tower. _Nope. Not an accident._

Loki stared at the darkened sky. Ash fell down, collecting in his hair and eyelashes and on his clothing. _Why in the Nine would would someone_ do _that?_

Lok noticed all the children from the daycare getting into a bus, followed by a flustered, pale-faced woman who reminded him of a thin mouse.

The bus drove off through the streets, getting as far away from the buildings and destruction as it could.

Loki turned and started jogging after it, when he heard the terrible screeching sound of twisting and chafing metal. The dark haired man watched in horror and awe as one of the towers started collapsing.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Heather arrived with the children at the other daycare. She rushed everyone inside and then counted heads. She froze, dread taking hold of her.

"Guys… Where's Katia?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki started to sprint away from the wave of destruction raining down. He was a block away when he stopped dead in his tracks. He still felt the magic. The child was still in the building.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Katia sat up. She had been curled on the ground, covering her ears with pain. The noise had been so _loud_. She looked around in confusion; everyone was gone. The puzzled ginger stood and surveyed the dark room. Everything was still out; books, toys, play-doh, crayons. The only indicator that anything had even happened was the missing jackets by the door. Stormy gray eyes swept over to the window with curiosity. There was a lot of dust and smoke building up in the area. A paper floated past the window. There was a moment of silence that pressed upon her surroundings.

Then Katia heard it. A creaking- a groaning- of metal and glass shattering.

She looked out the window in fear as the second tower started to crumble. Darkness crashed down upon the daycare before the rubble even got close.

Katia screamed and ducked under a table. Smoke filled the building in a giant wave. She heard a noise like glass shattering among the tumult. Tears streamed down her face as Katia curled into a ball. Rubble rained down on her in a cascade of pain. She caught a glimpse of red. She never wore red.

Katia cried. Dust filled her throat. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. She thought she heard a voice. Tender. Calling her name gently.

Everything went black.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki reached the girl right before the roof collapsed. He cradled her in his arms as he ran out of the rubble. She was cut badly by the glass and her blood was slowly covering his chest and arms. He needed to get her to some proficient healers, fast.

The young siedrmaster concentrated on finding where the other bus had gone. Then with a flash of light, he was gone.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Heather was crying and panicking as she explained it to the other daycare workers.

"I was just so scared and worried. I wasn't thinking straight.- hic- I thought everyone had followed me.- hic- I should have counted. I should have noticed someone was gone!-"

Another worker, a thicker African American woman with dreadlocks in a neat ponytail, was hugging her as she cried; rubbing her back and mumbling soft words.

"Shh. Shh… You made a mistake. Hopefully they'll find her quickly." the woman said softly.

"But if I had just checked-" Heather wailed.

"Shh. There's nothing we can do. The police told us not to go back. They have everything under control. They'll find her. We just have to wait for them to update us… okay?"

Heather continued to cry. "Cecelia. I just-"

Her crying was cut off as there was a frantic knocking at the door. One of the male workers, who was comforting a crying boy, quickly stood and went to open it. He let out a yell as a tall stranger burst in carrying a dark red bundle and calling for assistance.

The women stared in horror as they realized that the bundle was a little girl. Katia.

The daycare dissolved into a whirlwind of panicked adults and crying children. Cecelia led the stranger out the door and pulled him to her car.

"The ambulances are busy enough as it is! We'll take her to the hospital ourselves!" *****

He nodded and carefully entered the back seat, the unconscious girl still in his arms. Heather jumped into the passenger seat. The car sped out of the parking lot and toward the hospital.

She stared at the stranger. He was covered in dust and rubble, but she could tell his longish hair was very dark. He was wearing a dark t-shirt, black leather jacket, and jeans, all very filthy. The strange man held the girl tenderly, her head close to his pale face, mumbling into her ear. Something about him put Heather off. _This whole thing has got you shaken up. That's all._ She thought to herself.

They arrived at the hospital. The man jumped out of the car and ran into the ER with the toddler in his arms. Cecelia and Heather followed quickly behind, not even bothering to park the car.

The next few moments were a blur as trained professionals took over. The girl was taken from the man's arms and quickly wheeled away on a hospital trolley, leaving Heather, Cecelia, and the man standing awkwardly in the lobby.

"Do you need any assistance, yourself?" a nurse asked the three of them.

"No." Cecelia and Heather said in unison. The man just shook his head. He seemed thoughtful and distant as he stared at the door the the girl had gone through. His shirt and jacket were covered in the girl's blood.

He seemed to snap out of his daze and he turned and walked out the door. Heather ran after him, leaving Cecelia to fill out paperwork, and caught his arm just outside the door.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. He nodded. She let go of his arm. "Oh, um... what was your name?"

He stared at her for a moment then spoke. His words were soft and silvery and filled with a strange energy. "My name is of no importance. But what _is_ important, right now, is that Katia is taken care of." Heather blinked. He continued. "Go. Be with her when she wakes. She's going to need it…"

Heather stared as he walked away; his stride long and head high. She blinked and he was gone.

She stood there in shock. Then she realized… It was his eyes that put her off. His eyes were an unnatural shade of deep emerald green.

 ***Don't ever do that by the way. We have ambulances for a reason. I simply needed it for the story.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW**


	6. Gone

**Chapter Five: Gone**

 _The darkness was warm. Green and gold images danced over her view. They were letters, but not the ones she knew._ Runes _. The word sprang into her mind as if spoken by someone else. She liked these runes. They spoke of comfort and healing… and of a great tree._ I like trees _, she thought. Yes, it was a very good tree. The runes started to fade. The darkness was slipping away. Katia awoke._

There was a steady beeping that entered Katia's ears as she gained consciousness. It was really annoying. She mumbled something about making it stop.

"I doubt you'll want that to stop," The voice surprised her. Katia opened her eyes to bright white lights. There was a man in a white coat standing over her. He smiled. "You see, that beeping is measuring your heartbeat. If the beeping stops, that means your heart would have stopped. And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Katia shook her head. Suddenly a sharp pain traveled along the back of her neck, across her cranium, and to her eyes. She grimaced.

The doctor frowned. "You got hit on the head pretty hard. We had to stitch it up in a couple places. It's going to hurt for a while."

Katia nodded _very_ slowly.

She turned her head and saw that Heather was sitting next to the bed holding Katia's hand… her very bandaged hand. Katia took a good look at herself. Her arms were bandaged from her shoulders all the way to her wrists, and her ankles from the heel to midcalf. Her hands were wrapped too, but with thinner and less bandages. Gray eyes turned to look into the doctor's brown ones.

"What happened?" She croaked quietly.

Heather spoke up, "You got left in the daycare on accident…" She paused, getting slightly emotional, "They say the building was coming down pretty hard because of all the rubble from the towers. But a very brave person rescued you and brought you to us." Her voice cracked a bit further at the mention of the strange man.

"You got a little cut up on your arms and ankles. We think it's because the window shattered," the doctor said, "But it's a good thing you were curled up in a ball, or else you could have been hurt much worse."

Katia blinked. "Was it my uncle?"

"Pardon?" Heather said, confused.

"The brave person who saved me," the ginger said, "was it my uncle? Cuz he's really brave…"

Heather and the doctor shared a worried glance.

"Honey…" Heather bit her lip and rubbed Katia's hand with her thumbs, "Your uncle… he…" She broke down crying. "Katia, I'm so sorry, your uncle was in one of the towers when it came down."

Katia's eyes started filling with tears

"I- I- I don't understand…" she stammered.

Heather's tear filled blue eyes looked into Katia's stormy gray. "Honey, your uncle has passed away… he's dead."

Katia tore her hands away from Heather's and buried her face in them. The tears came freely and fast.

The doctor stood there silently for a moment. Then he spoke softly, " The search and rescue teams are still looking for your mother, but so far they haven't found anything…"

Katia cried harder. Heather did too.

Cecelia entered the room. She looked confused at the crying girls and then rushed over and hugged Katia, realizing the news had been broken.

Cecelia pulled Katia onto her lap and held her there. Katia clung to the woman's neck and cried softly. Cecelia rocked the toddler back and forth, hushing her and speaking comforting words. Soon Katia quieted down and they realized she had fallen asleep. Cecelia put her carefully back onto the bed and pulled the covers to her chin. She kissed her forehead then stood, beckoned Heather to come with her, and left the doctor to check Katia's vitals.

They stepped out into the hallway and Cecelia immediately started walking away angrily. Heather followed, slightly confused.

Cecelia spun to face Heather.

"What were you thinking?!" She whispered ferociously, "You can't just up and tell her that her mother and uncle are dead!"

Heather stared ashamed, at her shoes. Cecelia grabbed her shoulder with one hand and lifted Heather's chin with the other. "Hon, I know it's tragic and she needs to know, but you gotta give her some time to heal first. She's been through a lot."

Heather nodded and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I-I-I"m sorry. It's just… the last few days have been super stressful and quite scary for me.

Cecelia patted her back and nodded. "They have for all of us… They have for all of us…"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki made his way back through the streets to portal, running but not quite sprinting. People were still panicking about the destroyed towers. The entire city was covered in darkness and ash.

Several Midgardians looked at him in alarm. Loki realized he still had blood, ash, and grime all over himself. He ignored them. He needed to get back to Vanaheim, quickly. The Asgardian had decided it probably wasn't the best idea to stay on Midgard for long.

Loki arrived back at the alley and stepped through the portal. As he entered the cave, Loki changed his clothing back to his travel clothes and cleaned the blood and ash off of himself with both magic and water from the waterfall.

Then the dark haired prince stepped out of the cave and started the long walk back to the group.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Katia stayed in the hospital for the next few weeks. Since everything seemed fine internally, they took her off the heart and breathing monitors. She was only there so they could make sure her arms, back, and ankles didn't get infected, and because they hadn't worked out where she would stay. They couldn't let a four-year-old loose in an apartment without supervision.

The doctors were constantly busy; the terrorist attack had left a _lot_ of people injured. So Katia's days were slow. Oft times she was alone. At first she would wake up, sit there for a few minutes, then cry herself back to sleep. But as the days progressed, she cried less and showed more interest in the activities the hospital offered.

There were one or two days that someone even brought in a dog. Katia was delighted by the tall dark silvery Husky. Katia would sit cross-legged on the bed with the dog lying next to her. Then she would run her fingers through the thick fur and sing quietly and absent-mindedly. They were meaningless songs full of words she didn't know, almost from another language, it seemed. The dog seemed to like them, though. His ears would perk up as soon as she started singing, and he would stare at her with intelligent green eyes and nuzzle her bandages. When it came time for it to leave, Katia would hug its neck tightly and whisper her sweet farewells into its ear. Then the owner and the dog would leave and Katia would sit quietly, staring at her bandages.

When Katia was finally allowed to leave her room now and then, she would follow some of the nurses and watch as they worked. She was always standing there, silently watching, observing. Occasionally she would ask a question or two. She learned a lot.

Katia met some of the other children in the hospital. They would talk, laugh, and play games. She became good friends with an six-year-old African-American boy named Rufus, who had been crippled (thankfully not for life) in a car accident and came to the hospital for Physical Therapy every Tuesday.

When she wasn't following the nurses or playing with Rufus, she would sit in the window seat in her room and either draw or read.

The reading was her favorite. No one really expected her to be able to read as well as she could, seeing as she was four. But she astounded them by reading second and even third grade level books.

Though she spoke little. If not answering or asking questions or talking with Rufus, she hardly spoke a word. But when she did, she amazed people. Her vocabulary was very large. She spoke like someone far beyond her age.

This piqued interest in some of the doctors. Finally they approached Cecelia, who had assumed temporary guardianship of Katia while the details were being worked out.

"No." Cecelia stated adamantly.

"But ma'am, all we want to do is a couple tests. Nothing out of the ordinary"

"No" Cecelia continued.

Heather glanced back and forth from Cecelia to the doctor and back.

"Cecelia, maybe we should let them. They're doctors. They know what they're doing."

Cecelia turned to Heather, still glaring at the doctor. "I just don't like the idea of Katia being tested like some lab rat."

"Miss, Miss. No one is going to be a lab rat," the doctor chuckled. "All we are going to do is run a couple MRIs and Cranial Activity Scans and then ask a few questions. Nothing potentially harmful or anything."

Cecelia humphed. "Fine, but no more than that."

Heather smiled.

The doctor nodded and left to go to Katia's room.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The young doctor stared at the screen in amazement. Never in his expanding career had he seen something this phenomenal.

Heather and Cecelia were called in while Katia was returned to her room. They sat with the doctor at the screen and looked at the scans. As the doctor explained certain functions of sections of the brain, they were astonished at what they saw.

"It's amazing!" He said excitedly."She has the brain capacity of someone _twice_ her age. And it's developing just as fast."

Heather smiled in wonder at the revelation. Cecelia was beaming.

"And not only does she have a higher rate of cell development, but Katia actually has a higher percentage of her brain active."

"What does that mean?" Cecelia questioned.

The doctor continued, "The brain is constantly turning different parts active or deactive. An average four-year-old female only has about 67% of their brain active at once. And an average twenty-one-year-old female has about 75% active at a time. But Amethyst has 82% of her brain active at once. That means she has a better ability to focus, is able to make connections faster, and such."

Heather's smile grew even larger. "She always _was_ an exceptional student."

The doctor nodded. "It also means that she has faster reflexes and heightened senses."

Heather's smile dimmed slightly. A look of realization crossed her face.

"What is it?" Cecelia said, her face showing her concern.

Heather stared at her hands, her eyes wide. "That day… on the Eleventh… she came up to me and said that a noise was hurting her ears." Heather looked back and forth from Cecelia to the doctor, "I thought it was just that white noise that everyone sometimes hears… But then… a minute later, the first plane crashed into the tower."

"... Heightened senses…" Cecelia murmured softly and thoughtfully.

The doctor chuckled. The women gave him a weird look.

"What's so funny?" Heather asked skeptically.

"Oh, it's nothing really," He waved it off casually but continued to lightly explain, "I just had a funny thought."

"And what was that?" Cecelia's inquisitive glare fixed on his face.

He smiled. "It's just kind of strange. In a way, it's almost like she's… superhuman…"

 **Just so you know, those percentages and brain stuffs aren't real medical knowledge. But I'm putting it in for the purpose of the story. And, yes, Loki did visit her in the hospital as a dog. The owner was an illusion.**

 **Also, I need to know for the next chapter. Would you like to see more Loki or Katia immediately? Because, if you want Katia, I can update pretty much immediately. But if you want more Loki, you'll have to wait a bit longer... a lot a bit longer...**

 **Just please review your answer or any questions. Feedback is ALWAYS appreciated.**

 **So yeah... PLEASE REVIEW**


	7. Agent

**Heeeeeyyyy. So, I have a surprise for y'all. IT'S A SHORT CHAPTER. Just some important info that I almost forgot to put in. So, It's not Loki, and it's not** _ **technically**_ **Katia… IDK. Enjoy. READ AND REVIEW. Can't stress the REVIEW, enough.**

 **Chapter Six: Agent**

A woman walked briskly down the fluorescently lit hallway. She wore a rumpled pants suit, her bright auburn hair was in a messy bun, and she was covered in ash. Cold determination showed in her expression and walk.

Arriving at the end of the hall, she slid her ID card in the lock and entered through the now open door.

The man inside the office turned around and glared at her with his one eye. "Yes…?" He said.

"I've been told I'm not going back."

The man continued glaring at her, "That is true."

She crossed her arms and raised a brow.

He walked around the desk towards her. "We need you back, Agent. Very few have your experience and frankly, you're the only one who can pull off the missions we've been needing to complete, lately."

"You flatter me, Fury."

He shook his head. "I know that sort of thing doesn't work on you."

The woman continued, "Surely you understand why I can't come back yet."

Fury returned to his desk and sat. "I understand why you feel the need to stay with your daughter, but that doesn't change my decision."

The agent stepped forward. " _Please_ , Director. She needs a mother. You know that Agent Larkford was killed in the terrorist attack. Without either of us she will most likely be raised in a cruddy foster home. Not to mention her odds of leading a contributing life are very slim from that background."

Fury just nodded. "I know."

"Then, _Please,_ let me raise her. I know this is exactly what the Red Room was trying to avoid when they sterilized me, but this is the one chance I have of actually…"

"Being normal?" Fury cut in.

The woman stood silently for a moment before she sat in the chair in front of the Director's desk.

She then spoke with a quiet voice, "All I ask is for a couple more years. Then I can return to work and my daughter can begin defense training."

Fury looked at the agent with a hint of regret in his eyes. "I'm very sorry, Agent. But we need you back. This is the only way we can do that without endangering Katia." He said softly.

The woman nodded slowly

The Director stood. "I've contacted a retired agent. He has agreed to raise and train Katia until she is old enough to learn the truth."

The agent stood as well. "If I may ask, which branch?"

Fury escorted her to the door. "England." He smiled at her.

"Good day, Director. Sorry for taking up precious time."

"Consider it a debriefing." He said.

She nodded and started walking down the hall.

"Good day, Agent Romanov." Fury said as he shut the door.

 **REVIEW.**

 **Again. Stressing the REVIEW. Please do so. Ummm... Yeah. I need opinions on whether you want more Loki or Katia... Like, I can't update until someone tells me... so please.**


	8. Bilgesnipes are Jerks

**And the Chapter focus issss... LOKI. Sorry it took so long. Enjoy and feel free to REVIEW.**

 **Warning: Blooooood... EHEHEHE**

 **Chapter Seven: Bilgesnipes are Jerks**

Loki knew something was wrong as soon as he saw the trail of wreckage. Broken trees lined a deep gouge in the soil. Loki jogged along the groove with a concerned expression on his followed it for several miles, noticing clues along the way. Claw marks on a tree, tail grooves in the ground, a few scales here and there. It was when he found a scrap of red cloth that he really became worried.

The Prince broke into a run. The trail was easy to follow. There was destruction everywhere. Suddenly he heard a roar in the distance. Loki scowled and sped to a sprint. The trail opened to a large meadow. Loki jumped back as a large scaly beast ran past in front of him.

Loki crept forward and observed the situation. It wasn't good.

Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg were attacked the Bilgesnipe one by one, Thor was yelling and swinging his hammer wildly, and Hogun was nowhere in sight.

The Bilgesnipe reared back, snarled, and swung its tail around, knocking Volstagg into a tree. Loki winced. _That must have hurt._ Sif snarled back and stabbed its foot. The beast roared in pain and swung its head toward Sif to butt her with its long curled horns. But before it could make contact, Loki tackled her out of the way.

She stared at him then snarled again, "Loki! WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Before he could answer, he shoved her out of the way again. The Bilgesnipe's long spiked tail slammed down between the two warriors. Loki just smirked and turned to confront the scaly beast.

Thor came flying out of nowhere and rammed his hammer against its jaw. There was a loud crack and Bilgesnipe roared louder and reared its head, blood now dripping from its mouth. It snapped after Thor and danced out of the way. Loki threw a few daggers that buried themselves in chinks between the Bilgesnipe's scales. Another found its way to one of the beast's rectangular pupiled eyes. The roaring turned to an intense, shrill scream.

The Bilgesnipe began thrashing its head about. Its entire body writhed in rage and pain.

Volstagg and Fandral were thrown by its flailing tail. Sif ducked under a swiping claw, but was knocked over by a close-following back leg. She cried in pain as her foot caught on a rock and her ankle gave a nasty snapping sound as the shieldmaiden fell.

The raging beast fixed its murderous gaze on the nearest warrior.

Thor.

It attacked, shrugging off each counter attack by the group. It had entered Berserker mode, a well known stasis in Asgard with both animals and Aesir. Thor blocked most of the attacks until finally the Bilgesnipe swiped its claw and raked Thor across the chest, knocking him into a tree.

"Thor!" Sif screamed. She struggled to stand. Loki sprinted towards Thor and the beast.

The Bilgesnipe stalked forward, intent on finishing the job. It lunged, fangs aiming for the unconscious Thor's jugular. But its jagged teeth reached a different prince.

Loki screamed in agony as the Bilgesnipe's fangs sunk deep into his left arm. He had jumped in front of Thor at the last second.

Loki slowly sank to his knees. The Bilgesnipe's head followed his arm. Loki looked into its dull yellow eyes as the whole body took what seemed like an eternity to fall over. It was already dead. The younger prince lifted his good hand and attempted to lift the Bilgesnipes teeth off of him. His quivering right hand slipped and Loki tried again. Finally he was able to shift its jaw and remove the fang from the muscle just below the inside of his elbow.

His left hand reluctantly released the long dagger now impaled in the roof of its mouth. Loki gritted his teeth as he drew his hand out of its mouth and then put pressure on the wound. It was a _really_ bad place to be wounded. Lots of blood loss and such. He was lucky he hadn't hit an artery. Loki took a small handkerchief from his pocket and tied it tightly around his arm, wincing as he did so.

Thor shifted and moaned behind him.

Loki turned around and moved to help him. Volstagg and Fandral started heading over, supporting Sif.

Loki examined Thor's injuries. His chest was a mess of blood and torn and twisted armour. But Loki could tell the cuts beneath it weren't fatal. Painful yes, but not fatal.

Thor opened his eyes groggily.

"Must I always risk my life for you?" Loki joked, slightly out of breath. He was kneeling in front of Thor, gripping his own arm tightly.

The elder prince looked down at himself and slowly grinned. "Well, you're not doing a very good job of it."

Loki rolled his eyes.

The two warriors and Sif arrived where they were and rushed to help

Loki looked around, frowned, then spoke, "Where the helheim is Hogun? And our horses?"

They looked at each other awkwardly.

Sif spoke up, "He took them to a nearby village to get more supplies."

"You attacked it without him? Without me? Did you even have a plan?"

They reddened.

"Where were _you_?!" Fandral spluttered.

"I was getting away from your suffocating company for a bit. Sorry if your stupidity is almost unbearable!" Loki snapped.

Fandral countered, angrily "Are you so weak that a little teasing hurts your feelings?!"

"I CARE NOTHING FOR SENTIMENT!" Loki shouted.

"GUYS!" Sif screamed. All their heads turned towards her. "Can we please just focus on the problem right now instead of bickering like foolish maids?!"

Fandral closed his mouth and Loki stared at both him and Sif with a venomous look.

They heard a faint galloping. Hogun was returning. Loki stood, still holding his arm.

The Vanir rode into the meadow, a worried look on his normally stone-like face. He had new supplies on their horses.

He arrived where they were grouped around Thor, glancing warily at the dead Bilgesnipe.

He raised an eyebrow.

"They decided to be idiots and attack the Bilgesnipe without proper numbers." Loki said without emotion. Volstagg closed his mouth as Loki beat him to answer.

Hogun's eyebrows furrowed. "Are any of you injured?"

Loki gestured to Thor. Hogun nodded and tossed a sack to Loki. The Prince opened it and removed two healers runestones. He knelt by Thor, who was struggling to sit up, due to the pain. With Thor's minimal help, they removed the damaged armor. Loki then crushed the stones over the wounds and watched as they sealed themselves up. Thor stood. Volstagg handed him a new tunic from their saddlebags. The elder prince received it with a nod and a quiet "thank you."

Loki then turned to Sif. He took another runestone from the sack and moved to crush it over her ankle. She pulled her foot back and glared at him. He sighed.

"Really Sif? You choose to be stubborn when I try to help?"

"Broken bones are different than cuts. I don't need you doing some half job and then having a wonky ankle the rest of my life."

Loki massaged his temples. "Runestones are a very effective healing source. I could do the job myself, but this saves time and energy." He said.

She huffed but put her foot out to him. Loki crushed the runestone over her swollen ankle and it healed, shrinking down to normal size. Sif stood and tested the ankle out. Huffing again, she stalked off to retrieve her sword. Loki rolled his eyes.

" _Women._ " He mumbled. Thor chuckled.

Loki stood again and walked over to stand by his brother. He faced the older prince, "Well, I do believe it is time for us to pack up this enormous prize male Bilgesnipe and head back home."

Thor nodded. He turned to his friends. "Come!" He boomed, "Let us claim our prize! We have vanquished this mighty beast! Let its head and horns be mounted on our wall!"

The warriors cheered.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Finally arriving back at the Palace, Thor sent for the Bilgesnipe to be skinned and such, and for its head to be mounted on a plaque and hung in their commons.

"Your Highness?" the servant said.

Thor turned.

"Would you like us to keep or remove the blade in its mouth?"

Loki heard the question. Thor glanced at him.

"I would like my dagger back, thank you. Clean it and return it to my quarters." Loki said. Then he walked away.

Thor shrugged and turned to the servant. "Removed it is. Though it would look marvelous with it in… Oh well." Thor contemplated, then shrugged again. He knew how much his brother loved his daggers. He then walked to join the group.

The warriors walked along the corridor, laughing and talking. They were heading to report their victory to the All-Father.

Loki walked between Volstagg and Sif. Suddenly Volstagg bumped the young prince accidentally. Loki winced and hissed quietly. It was then that Sif noticed the bloody handkerchief on his arm.

She frowned, almost annoyed. "Why didn't you heal that as well? There were plenty of runestones."

Loki just gave her a light glare and then mumbled something as he took a turn and strode away from the group.

The Warriors Three looked confused.

"What was that?" Volstagg said.

Sif shook her head and kept walking. "Drama Queen." she muttered.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki walked briskly towards the healing chambers, the one phrase he'd uttered playing through his mind over and over.

 _Runestones don't work on poison._

 **Weeeellllll. I hope you enjoyed that. Sorry for the cliff-hanger. (EHEHEHEHE #NOTREALLY)**

 **Cudos to whoever finds the Harry Potter reference.**

 **Also. Discussion time. When they ask if they should leave the dagger in the Bilgesnipe head… thoughts? I put it there because I want you to think. Not only would it look super cool on a wall, but WHOSE TRIUMPH WOULD IT MARK. Certainly not Thor's. Loki's daggers are very personalized to him. Anyone would be able to recognise that Loki landed the killing blow…**

 **Also notice how Thor and Loki act around each other when his friends aren't around. Notice that part when Loki is healing everyone else, yet no one questions about** _ **his**_ **injuries.**

 **I've always had this headcanon that Loki's horned helmet is modeled after a Bilgesnipe's horns... You know. To make him look fierce.**

 **Anyway… Please review your thoughts. Reviews give me joy and attract other people to read. Tell your friends.**


	9. Where to Go From Here

**Chapter Eight: Where to Go From Here**

"Hold still for a moment, Katia. I need to make sure the bandage won't pull any healing skin with it." a jovial, portly nurse was unwinding the bandages from Katia's hands. The toddler had been staying with Cecelia until all the legal stuff had been worked out.

The small girl stopped fidgeting and stared thoughtfully at her hand as the nurse carefully unwrapped the gauze. Soon the bandages were gone from both hands. Katia puzzled at the strange scars that circled her fingers in chaotic patterns; especially the large squiggly ones in the center of her palms. The woman started unwrapping the toddler's ankles. Soon those bandages were gone as well. Similar scars circled her ankles.

Cecelia walked into the room as the nurse began to remove the bandages from Katia's arms, shoulders, and upper back. She watched quietly as the lady finally pulled of the last pieces of gauze and medical tape.

Katia looked down at her arms in curiousity. A slight frown graced her small pink lips. The scars were long and mottled. There were no defined lines. Cecelia walked over and studied the scars as well.

"Hmmm… What a pity." The nurse said quietly. Her voice was surprisingly high for her abundant size.

Cecelia glared at her, "What is?"

The medical woman looked sadly at Katia, "Those scars will be there for the rest of her life."

Cecelia turned more toward the woman, "...And?"

"I would suggest long sleeves…" the nurse said.

A bit of hurt entered Katia's countenance.

Anger flashed across Cecelia's face. She turned to Katia and looked straight into the ginger's large, gray, orb-like eyes.

"I think they're beautiful. Don't let others try to get you to cover them." Katia's eyes widened with joy. "And don't you think they look so lovely; the silvery white against your rosy skin?"

Katia beamed as Cecelia asked the question. She nodded. Yes, she liked these scars.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The lawyer looked up from his papers to Cecelia's concerned face. They were seated in a nice office that had an abundance of polished mahogany and dark leather. Older books packed the floor to ceiling shelf behind the man. Katia was quietly running her fingers across their spines and reading their titles under her breath as the lawyer- whose name was Mr. Anwalt- and Cecelia discussed the predicament on hand.

"We did a little bit of researching and discovered some difficult things," Mr. Anwalt began, "You know, of course, that both of Katia Larkford's guardians died in the terrorist attack on the eleventh. Or at least we have to assume both did. We never did find her mother. So we have to assume she perished..." Cecelia nodded. "Well, traditionally, their child would go to either their grandparents on one side, or to an Aunt or Uncle's care. But this is becoming quite a challenge. Both of Katia's grandparents, on the maternal _and_ paternal side have been dead for several years.

Her mother and uncle had one other sister, but she passed away a few years ago. Now, Katia's mother _does_ have a brother-in-law, but according to what we've found, he moved to Brazil about three years ago to conduct research on the local tribes and has lost contact with anyone. So she can't go to him."

"Besides, I don't think a jungle is quite the place for a little Manhattan girl to grow up." Cecelia joked. But her smile was small and sad.

Mr. Anwalt nodded grimly. "From this point forward we have to look at even more distant relatives. But even if we do find someone, we don't know if they'll accept."

Cecelia was silent. She glanced over at Katia who had pulled one of the books off the shelf and was reading intently. Katia looked up, aware of the eyes that were fixed on her.

"I think I have a distant cousin in London…" Katia said quietly. "Mum talked about him sometimes.

The adults stared. Mr. Anwalt blinked.

"Uh. Oh. Um. I didn't think you were listening…" he stuttered.

Katia shrugged and turned back to the book, her face scrunched in concentration at trying to understand the text.

Mr. Anwalt shuffled through his papers nervously. He cleared his throat and stood, motioning for Cecelia to do so as well. "I'll have to do some more research, but for now, I think it's best that Katia continues to stay with you."

Cecelia nodded, shook Mr. Anwalt's hand, and beckoned for Katia to follow.

Katia paused at the door. She turned to Mr. Anwalt, "Did you know your name means Lawyer in German?" she said in a small innocent voice.

He looked at her, then up at Cecelia. The woman shrugged. Mr. Anwalt shook his head. Katia smiled and skipped out into the hall. Cecelia followed muttering under her breath.

They walked slowly out of the building and through the parking lot, waving to the occasional passerby and such.

They were quiet as they got in the car and started out of the parking lot. Suddenly Katia spoke up softly. "Can we get some ice-cream at the park?"

Cecelia smiled. "Ice-cream in October? I guess. Sure, I bet we can try and find an ice-cream vendor near the zoo section. Though, no promises. They're probably selling cotton candy today."

Katia made a face of disgust. Cecelia chuckled.

"Oh c'mon, cotton candy isn't _that_ bad…"

Katia just shrugged.

Soon they were walking along one of Central Park's many paths, headed in the direction of the zoo. As they arrived, Katia smiled at the intoxicating smells coming from the many different vendor carts at the zoo's entrance. The girls walked around, trying to spot an ice-cream cart, and they succeeded shortly.

The young ginger skipped ahead and Cecelia followed happily.

"What do you want, pumpkin?" Cecelia asked.

"Hmm… I waaaaan't…. the chocolate peanut-butter scoop, with Reeses Pieces on top."

Cecelia nodded at the vendor and he scooped up Katia's order. Cecelia chose a simple French Vanilla cone and then paid the vendor.

They walked around the zoo a bit, licking their ice-cream, and pointing out the especially unique animals. At one point, Cecelia purchased a small bag of bread and they left to go feed some birds by the lake.

The light from the setting sun danced across the lake's rippling surface causing their surroundings to be bathed in an amber glow. Cecelia and Katia sat on a bench a couple yards from the water, tossing bits of bread to the multitude of ducks and pigeons that had gathered. An odd sparrow or other bird would grace the group once or twice, but never stay long.

"Me and Mum used to do this…" Katia said softly.

Cecelia looked at the little girl sadly. "Really?"

Katia nodded and tossed another piece of bread to a large pigeon. "Yeah. We would get ice-cream and toss bread for the ducks and give them silly names and she would sing me lullabies in another language…"

Cecelia was interested. "Really? What language? Do you know?"

Katia nodded again, "Russian… she knew a lot of Russian songs… she taught me one…"

"Will you sing it for me?" Cecelia asked slowly and softly.

Katia hesitated. Then she started to sing softly, a haunting tune that cut across the lake and seemed to enchant those around.

" _Там когда-то был молодой человек, который хотел знать,_

 _Все знания мира могли держать_

 _Он пытался и пытался, но безуспешно_

 _Каждый раз, когда он пытался, он закончится в провал_

 _Поэтому он решил попробовать другой путь_

 _И он построил большой замок в ночи и дня_

 _И в этом большой замок лучших работ_

 _Он сунул ему все полны миллионов книг_

 _Так что те, кто желает, чтобы искать мудрости_

 _Могли бы и сделать его прокрутки заполненные королевства_

 _Многие устремились в этой гавани обучения_

 _Те, кто искал знания с таким же стремлением молодого человека_

 _Замок был жив с кровью истины_

 _А те, кто боролись за ее ногтем и зуба_

 _Но пришел день, когда кровь текла сухой_

 _Люди больше не хотел узнать, почему_

 _Они бы скорее бороться и пить, и драка_

 _Они больше не учился в зале ученого_

 _И поэтому в своем горе в их жалком состоянии_

 _Молодой человек был наполнен ненавистью опечалены_

 _Во вспышке света и горестной крик_

 _Он стал сороку, побродить небо_

 _Чтобы найти человека, который еще раз принести свет будет_

 _Для замка обучения, как днем, так и ночью_

 _Один человек всего девяти_

 _Кто бы поделиться своей любовью к обучению лозы_

 _Сороки еще ищет своего гениального наследника_

 _Напомним, что его когда-то был там…"_

Cecelia blinked out of her daze slowly. "That…" she breathed, "... was beautiful… I don't know what you said, but I could have sworn I imagined a magpie flying around a castle of books…"

Katia cocked her head and opened her mouth to speak, when a loud CAW interrupted her. She looked towards the birds.

There among the pigeons and ducks, a large glossy magpie stood proudly.

Cecelia stared, open-mouthed. "Speak of the Devil… What a coincidence…"

Katia smiled curiously at it and tossed it a piece of bread. The magpie caught the piece in it's beak and gulped it down. It cocked its head and looked at the toddler. It took a small step forward then flapped its green-tinted wings and jumped onto the armrest of the bench, right next to Katia. It cawed softly.

Cecelia continued to stare as the ginger slowly reached out and the magpie took another piece of bread straight from her hand. It hopped closer and stood right next to the little girl's leg. Katia was wide-eyed with happiness.

She slowly reached over and stroked the magpie's glossy feathers. It rubbed its head contentedly against her palm and cawed softly again. Katia grinned and continued stroking the large bird.

Cecelia was still staring. "Uhh.. hun… maybe you shouldn't -" she reached over to shoo the bird away. The magpie looked at her angrily and cawed sharply. The woman pulled her hand back abruptly, startled. It was almost a territorial call. The bird was stroked a few more times before it took flight and disappeared into the skyline.

"Whoaah…" Katia breathed. Then she frowned slightly, "Are Magpie's eyes supposed to be green?"

"W-w-what…?" Cecelia stuttered, still shocked from the magpie's almost condescending, reprimand-like caw.

Katia nodded, "They were like the dog at the hospital…"

Cecelia stared at the sky for a moment. "Sure…" she said absentmindedly. "It's getting dark. We should go home."

Katia nodded and they left, a few bread crumbs still in their wake.

 **Here is the translation for the song if you want it. Google translate is weird, so don't do it yourself. It'll come out wrong.**

 **There once was a young man who wanted to know**

 **All of the knowledge the world could hold**

 **He tried and he tried, but to no avail**

 **Each time he attempted, it would end in a fail**

 **So he decided to try a different way**

 **And he built a great castle in a night and a day**

 **And in this great castle of the finest of works**

 **He stuffed it all full of millions of books**

 **So that those who wished to seek for wisdom**

 **Could come and do so in his scroll-filled kingdom**

 **Many flocked to this haven of learning**

 **Those who sought knowledge with the young man's same yearning**

 **The castle was alive with the blood of truth**

 **And those who fought for it nail and tooth**

 **But there came a day when the blood ran dry**

 **People no longer sought to know the** _ **why**_

 **They would much rather fight and drink and brawl**

 **They no longer studied in the scholar's hall**

 **And so in his grief at their pitiful state**

 **The young man was filled with a saddened hate**

 **In a flash of light and a woeful cry**

 **He became a magpie, to wander the sky**

 **To find the person who once more would bring light**

 **To the castle of learning, both day and night**

 **The one person in all the nine**

 **Who would share his love of the learning vine**

 **The magpie still seeks for his brilliant heir**

 **To remind him of what once was there**

 **So. Yeah. I wrote that. It's a poem. No, I don't actually have a tune figured out. That is for you to come up with in your brain. But it looks cool. Anywho… Please Review. Comment your thoughts on the idiot nurse and the lawyer… Darn. I should have made the lawyer Matt Murdoch… Maybe I'll include him later.**

 **So, just in case you're getting confused. All that happened on Vanaheim and Asgard in the last chapter already happened. This is a month-ish later. We already know that Loki visits Katia at the hospital and the park, SO HE'S NOT DEAD. Please review on who the chapter focus should be next time!**

 **PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE. AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS.**


	10. Goodbyes

**Chapter Nine: Goodbyes**

Mr. Anwalt was true to his word. He, with the help of an experienced and bright government worker, Mr. Coulson, managed to find a relation. Edgar Finch was a retired surgeon, fairly wealthy, and happened to be Katia's mother's uncle.

Finch lived over in London, England. They contacted him and he agreed to raise Katia. And so it was decided that Katia Soroka Larkford was moving to the UK.

It was a bittersweet goodbye for everyone. Everybody at the daycare, especially Heather and Cecelia were heartbroken to see her go. She had always had a quiet intelligence and a kindness to her. One not often found in kindergarteners.

Katia stood at the airport with Mr. Coulson, who had volunteered to be her chaperone. Coulson was connected to a charity organization that happily agreed to fund Katia's trip and were also working on clean up for the Twin Towers.

Heather, Cecelia, Mr. Anwalt, Rufus, and his mother were there to see her off. Tears ran down her face as she embraced Heather and Cecelia.

"I'm gonna miss you." The ginger whispered sadly into Cecelia's ear. The large african-american woman blinked back her own tears and hugged Katia tighter.

"Me too, pumpkin." Cecelia whispered back. She released the toddler and held the young girl's face, "Promise me you'll be strong? That you'll try to make friends and be _happy_?"

"Promise" Katia mumbled. Then she sniffed and moved to Rufus. She hugged him tight and cried. He was out of his wheelchair and in crutches.

"Rufus," she said quietly, "I need you to make a promise like I made a promise to Cecelia."

The six-year-old nodded.

Katia took a deep breath, then spoke. "I need you to promise me, no matter what, that one-" She held up a finger "-you will always be my friend, and two-" She held up another finger "-that you _will_ be strong and walk again. That you'll run and jump again. Okay?"

Rufus nodded again.

"Pinky swear? Cross your heart?"

Rufus smiled and stuck out his pinky. "Promise" he said. They shook on it and he crossed his heart.

Katia smiled, tears still on her cheeks, "Don't worry. You're gonna be the fastest and strongest of us all. I just know it!"

They giggled. The ginger placed a small kiss on his cheek and then joined Mr. Coulson with her luggage. She waved her small silver-scarred hands as they entered the terminal. Then Coulson took her hand and they boarded the plane.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The Bilgesnipe poison had been painful and difficult to draw out, but they were finally able to heal the wound, leaving a neat silvery scar on Loki's already pale skin.

The beast's head was mounted and placed in the warrior's commons. It looked fierce, its mouth open, snarling, showing off its jagged teeth. Loki would often be caught lost in thought, staring at it. What would've happened if he hadn't reached it in time? What if it had aimed for someone else? What if Thor or himself had been seriously injured? The What Ifs swirled around his head.

Then Loki would shake himself out of it and continue whatever task he was doing.

Thor and his friends told the story of their adventure many times. So many, that eventually Thor had been the one to slay the beast and Loki was hardly mentioned.

He didn't mind. The stories were foolish anyway.

Loki knew he was lying to himself. He really did wish they would recognize _his_ victory, but he knew that everyone would just call him jealous for correcting them.

So he kept silent. Like every other time.

Instead he occupied himself with his studies, both required (generally political and such) and his own curiosities.

Like that little Midgardian child. _Katia_ he thought. She was a ridiculous mystery. He had visited Midgard many times, sometimes interacting with her, but he couldn't figure out why she had magic. She wasn't _too_ different from other Midgardians. Smarter, yes. Otherwise, he hadn't been able to test. Her magic had a distinct feel. One that he recognized but couldn't quite put his finger on.

Each time he returned to Midgard to study the toddler, he would also take a detour and visit Kayda. They became good friends and Loki immensely enjoyed her bubbly but confusing personality. He bought all of her daily specials and occasionally brought her small gifts from across the nine. Nothing that would be too out of the ordinary on Earth, but still brought wonder to the receiver. Things like interesting rocks or small flowers. The blonde coffee shop owner loved the gifts and would often express that joy through hugs. Her hugs bordered suffocating and Loki knew _Thor_. Still he considered her a wonderful friend and he began looking forward to visiting her.

Soon enough, though, Odin started noticing the younger prince's frequent disappearances. The All-father needed his sons focusing on learning the ways of ruling. Loki already knew everything required at this point, but Odin worried that his youngest may have been experimenting with Dark Magic. So he called the dark-haired prince to him and forbade him from continuing his foolish trips to wherever he was going. Loki knew his father was right in some respects. He couldn't focus on something so trivial and unimportant in the long run. But it didn't make it hurt any less. He was being forced to abandon who he considered his only friend.

That's how he found himself on Midgard one last time. An act of rebellion for him, but he found himself needing to say goodbye. It would be cruel not to. And Loki may have had his moments of indifference, but he was _never_ cruel.

So now he stood on a New York street corner, being drenched by the pouring rain. The young prince scowled at the sky. _Of all things, why_ rain _?_ He thought. It certainly didn't help his mood. Loki made his way towards the coffee shop, a path he knew by heart. Finally arriving, he found the windows dark and the door locked. Loki cursed and started towards Kayda's apartment building.

Arriving at the building, Loki rushed up the stairs to the third floor. He flipped back the hood of his windbreaker and knocked on Kayda's door. He _really_ hoped she was there, he couldn't stay for long. Loki tapped his foot and shifted his weight. Growing impatient, the dark-haired Asgardian knocked again harder. After a few more minutes Loki became extremely frustrated and pounded on the door.

 _Please Kayda._ He stopped knocking and rested his forehead on the door. It was useless.

 _Please._

Loki closed his eyes in defeat. Letting his hands fall away from the door, he turned away, his lips forming a thin line.

 _I'm sorry._

Loki took a small package out of his jacket, then slid it under the door. The young prince blinked the stinging out of his eyes as he walked back down the hall and down the stairs.

Entering the rain again, Loki stared up into the grey clouds.

"I hope you're happy…" he mumbled bitterly at the dismal sky. Then Loki flipped up his hood and stalked back to the portal home.

 **Well... that was fun to write... Discussion time. The dynamic of LOKI v. ASGARDIAN SOCIETY... yeah... REVIEW. You'll notice I didn't do a lot on the poison. But I wasn't originally planning on doing much with that anyway.**

 **Did everyone like Coulson? But seriously... Can you imagine Coulson taking the hand of this cute little ginger four-year-old and leading her along? SO CUTE.**

 **Thoughts on Rufus? Finch? That random extra in the background?**

 **IDK... I'm rambling at this point. I feel as though I need a fairly good sized Author's note after every chapter... Also, thought you ought to know, it's going to be a bit longer until I update next. Just because I usually have the next chapter already written before I post one. Not so, this time. But, I WILL try to be swift and awesome.**

 **Until next time then, and REVIEW!**


	11. School is Boooring

**Sorry for taking so long to update. It took a while to figure out how to make the next few chapters go. Anyway.**

 **Okay. Now we've skipped several years into the future. Katia is now eleven. And because of her genius, has ended up skipping grades twice, putting her in 9th year. (8th grade for Americans).**

 **Chapter Ten: School is Boooring**

Katia bit her lip and sighed. Clutching her lunch tray, she nervously glanced around the cafeteria, searching for an empty table. Not seeing one, she turned to exit the building and find a spot on the grass outside. As she spun around to walk out the door, she found her nose inches away from someone's chest. The scrawny eleven-year-old yelped and sprang back, almost dropping her lunch.

The Tenth-year boy in front of her chuckled. "Well, if it ain't lil-miss-smartypants."

Katia sighed and rolled her eyes. Pushing her glasses back up the to the bridge of her nose, she spoke. "Hullo Thomas."

"Oi!" he barked, "Ma _name_ is Twitch." he said as he got up in her face.

"Yes, Tom. You've told me every single time we've crossed paths."

He scowled. "Yeh really ought ta start showin' some respect, punk."

The short ginger held her head high as she started to walk around the tall scottish blonde. "I'll remember that when I come across someone who's earned it." she said politely.

Thomas's face turned an ugly shade of red. He grabbed Katia's arm and got up in her face again.

"You wanna say tha' again, freak?"

The young girl's face darkened and she frowned at his hand gripping her arm. Katia glared at Thomas and spoke in a low frightening tone. "If you don't want to end up making a scene, I suggest letting go of my arm."

"What're ye gonna do 'bout it if ah don't?" the older boy sneered.

Katia grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"You probably don't want to find out." she said.

The blonde blinked, confused wary disgust in his eyes. He scowled and roughly let go of Katia's arm, shoving her as he stalked away.

"Freak." he muttered bitterly.

The ginger stuck her tongue out at his retreating form, then continued out the door to eat her lunch.

She was starving.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Katia sighed in relief as she exited Middleton Academy. It was the weekend. Finally. She may have been a genius (the only 11 year old in the 9th year), but school was school.

The ginger adjusted the strap of her homemade satchel and mounted her bicycle. Taking off down the block, she enjoyed the feel of the wind in her long wavy hair. Katia paused at a street corner, waiting for the pedestrian light. She winced as a group of teens sped past in a convertible, their music blasting at full volume. The scrawny eleven year old didn't know why she had enhanced senses, but often enough it was more a curse than a blessing. The world was altogether a bit too loud. And it stunk. Thankfully, her sense of smell had dimmed down.

But one sense that grew stronger instead of dimming was her eyesight. It had gotten so sharp that it became just too confusing. That's why she had the glasses. They were at a prescription that was meant to worsen the person's eyesight. But it just put her at a little better than 20/20 vision.

Eating was an adventure. Most of the time Katia could taste the specific chemicals and preservatives that they put in most everything these days. So she leaned heavily towards organic foods.

But the sense that was the most of a curse to her was her sense of touch. It was cool when examining stuff with interesting textures. But when it came to cuts and bruises, the pain was ten times worse than normal. She felt pain on an entirely different level. Katia had learned to generally ignore pain, but that didn't make too much of a difference.

The ginger suddenly snapped out of her daze as a car honked. She realized the light had turned. Hurriedly making her way across the zebra-crossing, she then took off again, heading through town. The sidewalks were a bit busier than normal, so Katia weaved in and out of the small crowd, agilely avoiding collisions. Skidding to a stop, Katia smoothly dismounted her bicycle. She bounded over a couple of stairs and through the door that led to her favorite bakery.

A bell jingled as she entered. The young girl skipped around a couple of customers and up to the back counter.

"Hi, Martin!" she chirped cheerfully.

A tall bald man in a floury apron turned from where he was talking to a younger employee.

"Heeey, Pipsqueak!" he grinned, "How's school?"

Katia shrugged. "Boring."

"As always"

The ginger scrunched her nose and scratched the countertop in front of her. "It's just… people can be so… _dull_. In more ways than one."

Martin chuckled.

"Compared to you, everyone is." He joked.

"Hey!" Katia said in mild indignation.

Martin just grinned. "I assume you're here for your weekly groceries." He said.

The ginger smiled. "Yup." she said, popping the 'p'.

Martin went around, grabbing various types of breads and putting them in a paper sack.

"Why do you fetch the groceries anyway? Don't you have housekeepers and such?" Martin asked.

Katia shrugged. "It gives me something to do." she said. "Plus, Sharry says it'll teach me how to function in society and learn responsibility."

Martin smiled as he brought three bags of bread over to the counter. "Like you need teaching…" he said a bit sarcastically.

The girl rolled her eyes.

Martin started adding up the costs at his cash register while the ginger peeked into each of the bags. She blew a strand of hair out of her face and looked into the last bag.

She pouted playfully, "No _Famous Apple Pie Bites_?"

Martin grinned then spoke, "Tell you what, I'll throw in a whole batch for free, but only because I like you."

Katia's face lit up. "Really?!"

The bald man gestured to a warming rack with said pastries on it.

The eleven year old gave a little squeak of joy and rushed over, putting a dozen in a sack.

"Awww, Come on! You know a batch is four dozen!" Martin called out.

Katia giggled and snatched three dozen more. She skipped back over to the counter and set down the sack. She then counted out the money needed and handed it over to Martin.

Gathering up the bags in her arms she thanked the cheerful baker and skipped out the door. Katia placed all the bags in her bicycle's basket and then took off towards home, munching on the most delicious Apple Pie Bites in the world.

 **Awww yeah... Suspenseful times to come. Tell me what you think about Katia. Is she adorable? Who loves the sass? Theories on her enhancements? Who likes Martin? I do. He's sweet. BTW, Sharry is the head housekeeper.**

 **And for all you Canadians, Martin did finish his conversation with that employee. He wasn't being rude. :)**

 **Middleton Academy... Midtown High... get it? Ehehehehehe... I'm so sneaky.**

 **Seriously guys, if you have questions, PLEASE REVIEW.**


	12. Broken Bones and Bloody Noses

**Hello**

 **It's me**

 **I was wondering if after all this time you'd like to REVIEW.**

 **asdfghjkl**

 **More Katia… I won't be doing much more of Loki until after the AoU timeline… which actually isn't far off…**

 **Just saying.**

 **Anywho… Read and REVIEW.**

 **Chapter Eleven:**

Katia hummed contentedly as she pedaled down the street, nibbling on her favorite pastries. Martin's recipe was seriously one of the best.

The eleven year old suddenly groaned. "Awww, c'mon. Not on a Friday…" she mumbled.

Rounding the corner, she stopped in front of the wall that was Twitch's gang. Katia glared at the group with a stare that should have reduced them to cinders.

Thomas stood at the head of the small group and smirked.

"Goin' somewhere, Cupcake?" he sneered.

Katia suppressed a shudder. "Ew. Seriously. What's with you and nicknames?"

Twitch's smirk dropped to a scowl.

Katia dismounted her bicycle as she spoke, "You know, I honestly can't tell whether a smile or a frown looks uglier on your face," she shrugged, "Probably both."

"That smart mouth o' yours is gonna get you in a _lot_ o' trouble someday." Twitch growled.

Katia slipped her bag off her shoulder and set it next to her bike. "Why not now?" she gave a cold smirk and stood in front of Thomas, arms folded

"Awww, that's cute." Twitch laughed with his friends, who watched as he taunted the girl. "The midget thinks she 'as a chance o' standin' against me!"

The short ginger just raised an eyebrow. "I can do more than just stand." she said.

"Sure ya can…" Twitch said sarcastically.

"Despite what you might think, I actually have other skills besides my intellect." Katia said.

Thomas scowled again, along with his three friends.

"Heh, no. You're all talk." He started advancing on the eleven year old, "An' that's what ya do. Ya jus' talk, you blab on an' on. The teachers _love_ ya. They can't get enough of ya. An' suddenly, everyone else's work looks like _rubbish_. Ya make us all look like idiots!"

"Not exactly hard to do…" Katia said under her breath.

"Say that one more time, you little twerp!" Twitch was red in the face and clearly very angry. She said it anyways.

Katia lifted her chin and stared Thomas in the eyes, "I said, Not exactly hard to do…" she spoke enunciating each syllable clearly.

The blond boy gave a roar and threw a punch at the small girl's face. But was surprised when he only met air. Twitch stumbled forward and his friends took readied stances.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Katia stood behind him and shook her head, "Didn't your mother teach you to not hit girls?"

The scottish teen spun around to face her again. He growled and attacked again, once more aiming for her face.

Katia ducked, punched Thomas in the gut, then danced out of the way again. As Twitch attempted to catch his breath, one of his friends, a greasy brunette named Hugo, lunged for the eleven year old. Hugo tried to grab her, but Katia slipped out of his grasp and punched him in the nose. The older boy yelped and stumbled back, hands going up to cover his bleeding and probably broken nasal organ.

"You realize I've taken multiple different martial arts and defense classes since I was four, right?" Katia said casually.

The words didn't seem to register as it was Twitch was up again. He ran for Katia at the same time as his friend, Christopher. The ginger nimbly danced out of the way at the last second and the two boys crashed into each other. Thomas's third friend, a short weasley boy named Jeffrey decided to attack Katia from behind, but failed when he found her elbow in his gut. Twitch's three friends hung back, nursing their wounds as the tall blonde attacked the small ginger one more time.

Katia watched, almost in slow motion, as Thomas's fist aimed once more for her face.

 _Idiot_.

Dodging to her right, she slid up under his arm, grabbing the elbow and just below his shoulder, and using his momentum, Katia judo-flipped the teen over her shoulder.

The eleven year old pinned Twitch to the ground on his stomach. She had a knee on his back and was holding his left arm painfully up behind him.

Thomas's friends backed away with fear in their eyes.

"I'm going to let you go. Not that you deserve it at all… I'm just nice." Katia whispered into his ear.

She released his arm and stood, backing away. Turning around, she strode towards her bike at the end of the alley. Katia glared at the other boys. They took their cue and scampered off.

"Freak!" Twitch spat as he got up.

Katia continued walking.

Thomas followed her.

"Don't ya walk away from me!" he yelled.

She kept walking.

"Nobody loves ya, you lil' MONSTER!"

Katia stopped in her tracks.

She knew the punch was coming right before it did… again. Milliseconds before contact, Katia suddenly turned to the right. She caught Twitch's fist behind her back with her left arm. With all of her strength she struck backwards with her right arm, right at his elbow. There was a loud crack.

Thomas screamed.

The eleven year old released his arm. The blonde cradled his broken elbow to his chest. He was white from the shock now setting in. He sank to his knees and sobbed. Katia watched him, expressionless.

After a few seconds, the ginger got down to his level and looked him dead in the eye.

She spoke in a low dangerous voice that sent shivers down Twitch's spine. "I am many things, Thomas… But a monster is not one of them."

He whimpered and nodded.

Katia stood up and started to walk away again. She hesitated for a moment. Turning around she said, "And for the record, don't use the same stupid move over and over again if it clearly doesn't work."

Twitch attempted to glare at her. "I could report you."

She gave a short humourless laugh. "No one will believe you. Beaten by a scrawny eleven year old girl. Yeah right."

Katia gathered up her things and mounted her bicycle.

"There's a free clinic down the street and I find that essential oils work wonders for the pain." She said as she passed him.

The bewildered blonde watched as the girl rode out of sight, again towards home.

 **I scared myself writing this chapter...**

 **It's kind of scary to me how similar Katia is to her mum... and Loki... I didn't even mean to write her that cold.**

 **Aaaaannnyywaay... PLEAAASSSE REVIEW! Pretty pretty pretty please.**


	13. Things go Wrong

**First of all, I am SO SORRY I took so long. It's been really crazy lately. My dog died, I got sick, we went on vacation, etc. Second of all...**

 **Warning: Death, Blood, etc. If you're squeamish, I don't know why you're reading this story. Marvel** _**IS**_ **action. Like seriously… If you have a problem with blood, why are you on a FANFICTION website? Like… I'm worried for you. Are you ok?**

 **Anywho… Read and REVIEW.**

 **Chapter Twelve: Things go Wrong**

As soon as Katia started pulling into the long drive, she knew something was off. There was a strange heaviness that hung in the air, but the ginger couldn't quite figure out what it was.

She proceeded with caution, trusting her instincts instead of the small part of her that said everything was alright.

Dropping her bike in the bushes, she made her way to the back kitchen door, making no noise. She frowned as she saw the door open. The kitchen staff sometimes left it open if they were super busy, but she didn't see anyone.

Katia slowly crept through the kitchen and down the hall, a horrible feeling arising in her gut. She suddenly realized what that strange heaviness permeating everything was.

Silence.

In what should have been a bustling household, there was no noise.

The eleven year old pushed down the feeling of panic that was creeping in. As stealthily as she could, she crept up the stairs, observing her surroundings. Katia jumped when she heard a creak down the hall. She frowned. That was Uncle Ed's private study.

Something was so very wrong.

Katia crept slowly down the corridor towards the study, her heart pounding and adrenaline starting to course through her veins. The study door was open a couple of inches. The eleven year old peeked warily into the room.

Katia immediately gasped and jumped back. Tears filled her wide eyes as she beheld the horrific scene before her. Edgar Finch lay dead on the study floor near the window. He was sprawled out on his stomach and Katia could see bloody patches on his tweed suit jacket where bullets had entered his back. There were many and his blood had spattered all over the wood floor.

The young girl backed up against the wall behind her, trembling with fear and horror. She couldn't breathe.

Instincts taking over, Katia dashed into the nearest room and flung open the window. Who knew if the murderer was still in the vicinity. She jumped onto the roof, scrambled over to a trellis, and climbed down with inhuman speed. She grabbed her bicycle from the bushes and took off into the woods behind the house, pedaling with as much strength and speed as she could.

The only thought in her mind was, _Get as far away as you can_.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

After a few minutes, Katia abandoned the trail. She had thought she'd heard someone following her a couple times, and it only served to fuel her fear, and in turn, her adrenaline. Panic filled her mind and made it hard to focus.

Suddenly Katia's path was blocked by a large root. She faltered and failed to avoid the mossy appendage. One moment she was on her bicycle, the next, she flew through the air and tumbled onto the other roots of the gnarly tree that had intercepted her course.

Gasping in panic and pain, the ginger curled on the ground, sobbing and trying to breathe. Her lungs were burning and her eyes stung. Everything hurt and she was pretty sure she had just broken a rib.

Katia made an attempt to rise, but collapsed when she felt a sharp pain travel up her leg and across her ribs. Slowly her breath and strength returned to her and Katia slowly sat up, wincing as she did so.

The young girl gathered her wits and took in her surroundings. Everything was sharp, bright, and slightly overwhelming. Katia realized she'd lost her glasses in the tumble. Instantly she spotted them a couple feet away. Reaching out, Katia snatched them up and placed them on her nose. Everything became duller again.

Sniffling a bit, the eleven year old stood gingerly and limped over to her bike. It was wedged into the root of the tree, the fronts wheel's spokes now bent. Katia wiped her eyes and picked up the bags of bread that were still in the basket somehow.

Glancing upward, Katia realized she recognized this tree. She and Sharry had found it last summer and Katia had been the only one out of multiple staff to figure out how to climb it.

Shaking off her pain, Katia made her way up into the upper branches of the large twisty tree. She sat between some branches and nibbled on the bread she's brought up.

She glanced across the treetops at the darkening sky and started to cry again. If Uncle Ed was dead, that meant the rest of the staff were as well. They were there to protect him. She knew that much.

Katia stared down at her hands. Twice. It was twice now that her caretakers had been killed. It was as if the Universe had decided that it hated her. Katia's thoughts tumbled around her head as she descended to some thicker boughs. There she curled up in a hollow between three large branches.

She fell asleep with tears streaming down her face.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Katia dreamt of light

It was soft and kind… and mesmerizing. It danced around her in swirls and shapes, skipping along playfully.

The light opened up itself like windows, allowing her to see beyond the light into… space. Galaxies and nebulae flitted past, dancing around in the light. The girl wondered at their immensity and beauty.

Suddenly, from the galaxies and light formed a figure. The silhouette seemed to be of a woman. She approached Katia and gathered the eleven year old into her arms. Katia felt herself smile. This woman was safe. Familiar. She could feel it deep within herself. But there was also an element of… strangeness. Even a bit of darkness. But it was comforting. Comforting to know that she wasn't the only one with darkness.

The figure flew through the stars with Katia in her arms. Katia saw galaxies and time pass away in the blink of an eye, and yet in a millennium at the same time. It was confusing, overwhelming, and wonderful all at once.

They landed on a smooth glassy surface that reflected the Universe they saw above them. The figure gently set Katia down onto the surface. The woman sat down next to Katia and they stayed there.

Stayed there until the galaxies faded away and it was just the woman and the light. Then the woman faded and there was just the light. The light gave one last twirling good-bye and everything faded to black.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Katia awoke suddenly. She did not feel fearful or tired or on edge.

She glanced around and then froze. She was not in the tree anymore, that was for sure.

The eleven year old stared and stood slowly. She was surrounded by light and noise. Katia looked down, she stood on the roof of a tall building.

Spinning around in confusion and wonder, Katia gaped at her surroundings. Only one country in the world did their cities quite like this. Katia spotted a familiar building in the distance. All of the memories started rushing back and that's when she knew it.

Katia was in New York City.

 **As you can probably tell… things are getting crazy. I feel bad for Katia. Two caretakers gone… Three if you count Agent Larkford. BTW, familiar building = Empire State Building… (I mean, pshhh,** _ **obvious**_ **).**

 **Things are starting to pick up from here. We'll have some chapters stuck in, then we'll be BACK TO THAT ACTION. ;)**

 **Anywho… Read and Review. Reviews are life and actually make me update faster. Science. Tony and Bruce have proven my theory correct. If you don't believe them, you better believe it when Jane, Selvig, Peter (Parker of course), Hank Pym, and Dr. Cho all prove it. Might even throw in Betty Ross. So much science.**

 **;D**

 **By the way, this posting is a special one! I've broken my personal record for most chapters posted in one story! (Yeah yeah yeah. Twelve is kind of a sad record breaker). BUT, tis a wonderful accomplishment for me, since I burnt out on my last long story at chapter 11 (technically 9 since there were 2 Author's notes). YAAAAY. I can do this! I'm gonna write ALL the chapters! *insert meme here***

 **Lol. I love you guys. And shout out to the few people reading from, like, Russia and Saudi Arabia. That's super cool for me. Great to know my work is all over the place. :)**


	14. The Universe Facepalms

**You know, it feels ridiculously great when you have the entire plotline written down. Like, I am so freaking excited to write this story. Tis gonna be awesome. It's gonna take a while, though. A loooooong time. So much to do. I'll just take it a chapter at a time. Like always. :)**

 **Chapter Thirteen: The Universe Facepalms**

Loki emitted a silent frustrated sigh. He was currently stuck in the counselling hall with several hundred nobles for a court case that was becoming exceedingly tedious. The counsel was getting nowhere with their decision and, though Loki knew exactly what was going on at this point, it would reflect badly on himself if he were to intervene.

Thor had given up only minutes after the case had started, sneaking out the back when only Loki was looking. Loki was starting to wonder if the oaf might actually have some sense in him. It'd be nothing short of a miracle, though.

Rubbing his temples in frustration, Loki finally gave in. He passed his notes to a bewildered young counselman and stood to leave. The young prince caught his mother's eye briefly and her gaze seemed understanding.

Then he was gone.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Loki released a sigh of relief as he strolled down the corridor. He was finally free… or at least for a few hours. The prince made his way down to the library. The Asgardian Halls of Knowledge were quite impressive, but severely underused. However, Loki spent the majority of his time in the oaken corridors.

The dark-haired prince inhaled deeply as he opened the massive doors. The scent of old books, parchment, ink, and wood rushed over him in a wave of delight. Loki made his way towards his favorite spot in the library. Suddenly he froze. He heard voices around the corner. Loki frowned. He listened silently. There was a muffled giggle.

 _Oh Norns no_. Loki's mood plummeted immediately. He cloaked himself and peeked around the corner. There, a young palace guard and a giggly noble girl stood snogging. It was really quite disgusting.

Loki realized he knew the girl. She had been one in a group of snobby nobles' daughters who were honestly nothing but shallow kiss-ups… sometimes literally. His normally sour attitude toward them had worsened last week when they had all laughed at him after Thor had made him choke on his wine. The golden prince tended to "pat" people on the back at entirely the wrong moment. Loki remembered the burning feeling of the liquid going down the wrong pipe. It was honestly _not_ funny.

And now here she was snogging with some guard- who was probably skipping responsibilities- in _Loki's_ library. It was bad enough that no one used the library. Now people were using it as some secret make-out corner.

The couple paused to breathe. The platinum blonde giggled again.

"You know what we should do?" she whispered.

The guard grinned, "What?"

"No one reads these books anyways. We should write our initials in one of them!" she whispered even softer.

Loki almost punched a wall. _OH NO YOU DON'T! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BOOKS!_

He angrily flicked his fingers in their direction.

Suddenly the guard backed away from the girl, fear in his eyes.

"What?" she laughed, confused, "You can't care that much about those old- "

The blonde froze as she felt something shift on her head.

Loki grinned maliciously. _That'll teach the little viper to respect my library._

The young woman screeched as she realized her carefully piled hair had suddenly occupied itself with a nest of snakes. She fled the library screaming for someone to get them off. The guard followed panickedly trying to swat some of them out of her hair.

Loki allowed himself a low chuckle before uncloaking himself and heading once again to his favorite alcove.

 **And here we have Loki being a little turd. But in his defense, I probably would've done the same. NO oNE ToUcHES MY BOoKS. I guess this is just a little character development/filler chapter.**


	15. New York?

**Hello. Again, I'm sorry I took so long to update with so little. It's just I was trying to write a long chapter, and it would've taken even LONGER had I not posted this part. So. Sorry there is so little so late, but I promise I'm getting there.**

Chapter Fourteen: New York?

New York.

How in the world had she woken up in _New York_? She had literally been across the entire freaking Atlantic Ocean just a few moments ago. Katia was incredibly bewildered and extremely worried. Not only did she have no idea how she got here, she also had no money, no shelter, no food, and she was a minor.

Trying to pull herself out of her panicked state, Katia attempted to slow her breathing by taking in large, slow breaths. She needed to _think_. Rushing into things would be dangerous.

Katia looked around the rooftop of the building she was on. She needed a way down. There didn't seem to be any entrance to a stairwell, so the ginger jogged over to the edge of the roof and looked down. It was several stories to the ground.

Katia frowned. She walked around the edge until she spotted a fire escape. It was a bit of a jump, but Katia knew she could make it.

Leaning her legs down over the lip, Katia dropped onto the rusty platform. She climbed the rest of the way down with ease.

A breeze drifted down the alleyway and Katia shivered. She was wearing her school uniform which consisted of a button-up and thin sweater with the sleeves rolled up, a mid-thigh skirt, socks, and converse. None of it was very warm. Katia searched her satchel- which she somehow still had- for her Shakespeare Team Hoodie that she'd had in there. Finding the article of clothing, Katia gave thanks to the universe and eagerly pulled it on. Feeling slightly warmer, the short ginger ventured out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. Katia glanced up at the dark sky, longing for some stars. But this was Manhattan. New York was famously known as the city that never sleeps. Therefore, light pollution. No stars.

The small girl shrugged off the disappointment and looked around for a street sign. Finally spotting one, she saw she was on Madison Street. Katia felt a rush of relief. The NYPD was just down the street. The ginger almost started skipping as she jogged towards the blessed building. She could tell the police what happened and they could help her figure things out.

 **Yup... Please Read and Review... I need your feedback guys. Anything I could work on? Etc.**

 **Until next time...**


	16. NYPD

**As it turns out, I am not actually dead. Sorry if some of you were starting to think that I was. *grins nervously*. Aaaanywho. New chapter, yaaaaaaay :)**

 **We get to see what Katia tells the police. Ooo so suspenseful. Read on, my lovelies. Read and enjoy.**

Chapter Fifteen: NYPD

Katia arrived outside of the large building. It was the Police Headquarters for the entire island of Manhattan, located only streets away from the Brooklyn Bridge*. She rushed inside and went up to the front desk. An exhausted looking secretary sat on her computer, sipping a cup of coffee. The woman didn't look up when Katia walked up. The short ginger cleared her throat… nothing. She noticed a small hand bell on the desk in front of her. Katia gave it a quick ring.

The honey blonde secretary jumped and almost spilled her coffee. Blinking rapidly and adjusting her glasses, she looked over the edge of the desk at Katia.

"What on Earth?" the woman stared, bewildered, at Katia, "What is someone your age doing here in the middle of the night?"

"I'm sorry. I really need your help..." Katia said timidly. She looked at the nametag on the desk, "Ms. Moore."

"What with? Are you lost?" Ms. Moore stood up and strode around the desk to Katia. She crouched down in front of the girl, a worried expression on her face.

"Sort of." Katia took a deep breath, trying not to cry, "It's just. I-I don't know how I got here and I'm really scared and my uncle-" she broke off there and sniffed. There was a lump in her throat and she felt tears beginning to leak out of her eyes and run down her face.

"Shh shh shh. It's okay. We'll figure this out." Ms. Moore said softly. She then stood. Taking Katia's hand in hers she glanced down the hall. The secretary typed in a number on her phone and pressed the button on her headset that rested in front of a bun that probably wasn't _supposed_ to be messy.

"Andrews. Get down here." She spoke as soon as he picked up.

A few moments later a tired-looking African-American cop with salt and pepper hair came jogging down the hall.

"What's the problem, Miss - oh…" He trailed off as he noticed Katia.

He looked up in confusion. The officer knelt down in front of the crying child and spoke softly, "Hey, hey, shh, it's okay," He glanced up at Ms. Moore briefly as he spoke, "Why don't you take a deep breath and then tell me what's wrong."

Katia sucked in gulps of air as she tried to calm herself down.

"I - I - I don't know r - really know how t - to explain what h - h - happened." Katia hiccupped.

The officer brushed away a tear, "That's okay… Here, how about we start with your name. "

Katia sniffed and nodded. "I'm Katia Larkford."

Officer Andrews smiled. "Alright Katia, How old are you?"

"Eleven." The ginger wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Andrews nodded. Ms. Moore smiled.

"Well, Miss Katia, what brings you to the Police Station?" The officer asked.

"She said something about her uncle." Ms. Moore whispered to Officer Andrews. He nodded then looked at Katia expectantly.

Katia took a shaky breath. "I just came h - home and my great uncle Ed w - was - " she broke off again, crying.

"What what?" Andrews and Moore looked at her with anxious trepidation.

"He was dead!" Katia sobbed.

The adults' eyes widened in horror. "What?!"

Katia nodded as tears streamed down her pale cheeks.

"Do you know how?" Officer Andrews asked hurriedly, "Was it natural?"

"If you could call bullets natural." Katia said in a quiet, bitter voice.

Ms. Moore gasped. Andrews stood up abruptly. He notified some fellow officers via his walkie-talkie. Ms. Moore rushed off down the hall, presumably to notify the Chief.

The greying cop turned back to Katia, "Where do you live?"

The eleven-year-old hesitated.

"You wouldn't believe me…" she said softly.

Officer Andrews frowned. He returned to kneeling in front of the young girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Katia, you need to tell me where you live so we can help your uncle and catch the person who hurt him."

"Saint Vincents Lane, London." Katia said, "I'm from the UK."

"Well, yes, I gathered that from your accent, but where is your uncle? Are you staying in town?" Officer Andrews asked.

Katia shook her head vigorously. "No. My uncle is in London. I'm trying to tell you," The ginger said desperately, "I was just in London a moment ago. I found my uncle dead and I panicked and ran. I fell asleep in the woods where I hid and when I woke up, I was here."

Andrews frowned. "Katia where is your uncle, really?"

"I told you! He's in his house on Saint Vincents Lane!" She said, frustration evident.

"Okay." Officer Andrews said.

Katia stared open-mouthed at the officer. "...You don't believe me!" she shoved his hand off her shoulder.

"Of course I do." Andrews said calmly.

"You think I'm making this all up," Katia felt a cold sinking feeling seeping through her limbs, "You think this is f-for attention."

"No no no. Katia. I just need to make sure that this isn't just a case of a … troubled child causing a commotion."

Katia stared at Officer Andrews in disbelief. "Troubled… ?" She mumbled.*

Ms. Moore chose that moment to return. She strode up, heels clicking on the linoleum. Officer Andrews stood and pulled her aside before she could say anything. Katia watched through blurry eyes as the officer spoke to the secretary in low tones. Ms. Moore glanced worriedly over at Katia multiple times during their conversation. Finally the woman broke away and approached the ginger.

Ms. Moore gave a small smile. "Hey Katia, I'm just going to ask you a few questions, so we can fill out this report." She gestured with the tablet in her hands.

Katia sniffed, "Okay."

Ms. Moore nodded, "Alright, you said your name is Katia Larkford? Can you spell that for me?"

"K-A-T-I-A L-A-R-K-F-O-R-D." the ginger recited quietly.

"Do you have a middle name?"

Katia nodded. "Soroka, S-O-R-O-K-A."

Ms. Moore smiled, "That's very pretty."

"Thanks." Katia mumbled.

Ms. Moore looked back at her tablet, "Okay, can you tell me your birthday?"

"September 3rd, 1997."

The secretary frowned. "I thought you said you were eleven."

Katia looked at the woman, confusion etched on her delicate features.

"I _am_ eleven." Katia said.

Ms. Moore continued, perplexed, "But if you were born in 1997, you'd be fourteen, not eleven."

"No," Katia insisted, "I'm eleven. 2008 minus eleven is 1997."

Ms. Moore's face suddenly looked more concerned than confused. Katia was more confused than ever.

"What?" The young girl was worried. _Why is she looking at me like that?_

"Why did you choose 2008 in your equation?" Ms. Moore said softly.

"Because it's 2008… right?" Katia was becoming less and less sure of herself for every moment that passed.

Ms. Moore shook her head. "Honey, it's 2011."

 ***Actual place in New York. The NYPD HQ.**

 ***As it turns out... Katia is troubled in an entirely different way. Troubled with a sad life full of idiots with guns... and bombs. So troubled.**

 **WHAT. 2011?! What a PLOT TWIST. Wow. Now I'm just sarcastically applauding my own work. *cries* I need reviews. I'm so tired. And school begins on Monday. Ah, the cursed Monday worst of all Mondays. At least I don't have the worst classes ever. *tries ... and cries some more***

 **Soooo. Yep. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE _PLEASE_ REVIEW. I NEED REVIEWS.**


	17. Brooklyn Bridge

**Warning: Panic attack, Falling, etc.**

 **Things are starting to pick up. Action, adventure, trauma... fun stuff.** **Again. Sorry I was away for so long. But I promise, this chapter is good.**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Brooklyn Bridge**

Katia felt as though her veins had turned to ice. Thoughts raced in chaotic rings around her head. _2011? It couldn't be!_

"No no no no no…" Katia backed away from Ms. Moore, fear and disbelief ravaging her countenance.

"Wait, Katia - " The blond woman tried to reach out to Katia, but the young girl flinched back away from her outstretched hand.

Katia couldn't breathe. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, it was beating so fast.

"No no no no no - " Katia mindlessly room seemed to spin and the walls were closing in on her. The ginger gripped the sides of her head to try and make it stop. It was suffocating. _No no no no no - This is wrong, this is all - I have to get out of here!_

With that thought, Katia sprang into action. She shoved away the concerned Ms. Moore and booked it towards the door.

"Katia, wait!" the woman called out in a panicked tone. Officer Andrews, who had been conversing with another officer in the hall, ended his conversation instantly with an alarmed shout and started to give chase, the other officer following just behind.

Katia practically flew across the parking lot, fully aware that the police were now chasing her. She hurdled over a barrier and through some bushes and sprinted out onto the road. The panicked 11 year old could see red and blue just around the block. Motorcycles. She looked up and saw the entry ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge. Making a split second decision, she bolted towards it. A siren called out behind Katia, making her heartbeat spike and adrenaline flood through her veins.

She ran faster.

New York was always busy, so Katia hoped she could at least slow down the police by entering a higher traffic area. The Brooklyn Bridge was just that.

Katia darted around cars on the busy roadway, still sprinting across the bridge. A loud honk and bright headlights filled her vision a moment before she leapt over the hood of an approaching car. She clambered across its roof and jumped back onto the road.

Katia's heart hammered painfully against her ribcage and her lungs and legs felt like they were on fire. She kept running. The ginger was half-way across the bridge by the time she glanced back. The police were only about fifty yards away. Fear clawed at her chest. She _had_ to get away. Katia glanced over the side of the bridge, this was her best chance. They couldn't follow her there.

The young girl wasted no time. She vaulted over the protective railing. The police behind her all gave an alarmed shout. Katia fell almost 15 feet down before she landed hard on the steel bracing below. Her left ankle buckled and a rush of panic filled Katia as she felt herself slipping. Her hand grasped a beam just in time.

Katia hugged the beam with all her strength, shivering at how close she had come to falling.

Sirens wailed above her as more cops. Katia's insides squirmed as she realized she had to let go of the cold metal and keep moving. Katia steeled herself and lessened her hold on the smooth beam. Keeping her weight on her right foot, the ginger began inching her way across the bracing along the underside of the bridge. Every moment was nerve-wracking. The only thing below her was open air for hundreds of feet, then freezing water. Katia's breath hung in puffs of vapor in front of her face and she realized for the second time, that night, that it was frigid.

Katia continued making her way across the bracing, clutching various smaller beams for support. Her ankle was screaming in pain.

Suddenly she heard a loud clanging. They were lowering a cable.

Katia's eyes widened. "Nonononono" she cried.

The young girl clambered faster.

 _I can't- I have to get away- I need to-_

Katia's heart stopped as her foot slipped. She reached out for a beam, but her fingers just grazed the edge. It felt as though time had slowed as gravity did its work.

The wind tore at Katia's clothing and stole her scream from her lungs as she plummeted.

 _I'm going to die._

The ice-cold water approached like a freight-train.

 _I miss my mum._

A split second of excruciating pain.

Blackness.

 **Discussion time: What might be last words/thoughts... what are you thinking?**

 **Review your thoughts :) and stay tuned.**


	18. The Ash Branch

**I'm avoiding responsibilities… like studying… and homework… eheheheh (nervous, slightly insane laughter) Oh boy.**

 **Anywho. Hope you like the chapter.**

 **Chapter Seventeen: The Ash Branch**

Loki's head flew back as a sword hilt met his cheek. Another blow followed to his gut and Loki had to suppress the urge to vomit. Oh how he hated training. The sword of his opponent aimed for his ribs, but the young prince deflected the approaching blade with a sweep of his spear. Loki took the opportunity to step back and evaluate his opponent. The soldier had been at the top of his classes since they were all very young. He was hotheaded and quick to blows, just like the rest of them.

Loki shifted the metal spear in his hands and awaited the soldier's next attack. The other asgardian sprang forward, attacking with wide crushing blows. Loki parried each and used his momentum to kick the soldier in the chest. The man stumbled back, surprised. Loki drove the butt of his spear into the ground and flicked up a loose clod of dirt with expert aim. The soil reached the soldier's eyes and he gave a grunt of alarm and stepped back, an arm over his face.

Loki lunged and the soldier parried.

"Bit of a dirty move, prince…" he commented.*

Loki frowned and blocked the sword coming towards his head.

"Any means necessary." Loki grunted as he deflected another strike and jumped away.

"You would give up honor to survive?" The soldier said indignantly.

Loki lunged again, but miscalculated and received a nick to his bicep. "Is not honor living worthily to fight another day?"

The soldier scoffed as he struck again, "Worthily? Of course."

He brought his sword straight down hard and Loki barely blocked it. They were now in a locked position, the soldier bearing down and Loki holding strong with the spear.

"But what makes you think you're worthy, Trickster?"

Loki's eyes flashed and fire filled his veins. _How dare he…_

With one swift move, he disarmed the soldier. A rapid succession of blows followed and Loki found himself standing above his defeated opponent, the spear to his throat. The man looked up at the prince, fear in his eyes.

Loki spoke soft and low in a tone that could pierce even the toughest armour. "Know your place, soldier."

* * *

"They are brilliant are they not?"

Loki glanced up to see Heimdall approaching. Loki had climbed on top of the Bifrost dome to think and stew.

"Pardon?" Loki frowned.

Heimdall smiled. "The stars." The guardian gestured to the heavens as he sat a few feet away from the young prince.

Loki gave a small nod and rested his head and arms on his knees. He continued to stare out at the wonder that was the Asgardian sky in the evening.

Heimdall studied him for a moment. "But I have a feeling that stargazing isn't quite the reason you are here…"

Loki glanced at the falls below. He hesitated then gave only the slightest shake of his head.

"...It's our anniversary…" he whispered barely loud enough to hear.

Heimdall was silent. He knew who Loki spoke of.

Loki looked up and the older Asgardian could just make out, in the dim light, tears in the young prince's emerald eyes.

Heimdall spoke softly, "We all miss Sigyn."

Loki's eyes darkened and he stared once more at the tumbling falls.

"Not like I do…" he mumbled.

There was a moment of silence before Loki inhaled deeply and sat up straight. He winced slightly and Heimdall noticed the large bruise on his right cheekbone and the way Loki was holding himself as to not use his diaphram much.

"You should go to the healers."

Loki glanced at the gatekeeper and shrugged. "Tell me, Oh Great Heimdall," he spoke with theatric bravado, "What do your ember eyes see this night?"

Heimdall smiled, "An unruly prince who must learn to respect his elders."

Loki grinned, "Ah. What is Thor doing now?"

Heimdall chuckled and shook his head, choosing not to comment. He gazed out at the stars and sighed. "I will never stop being in awe at the sheer number of souls there are in the realms…" He paused, "Souls that are all so fiercely unique."

Loki glanced curiously at the gatekeeper. "How do- … _why_ do you see like no one else on Asgard does?"

Heimdall hesitated before speaking.

"What do you know of my birth?"

Loki's brow furrowed in confusion. "Only that they call you the one born of nine mothers, though I'm sure they didn't mean literally."

The guardian chuckled, "Don't discard the idea just yet." he turned to look at the prince. "I was born of a mother, same as you."

Loki frowned, "But you just said-"

Heimdall held up a hand. "I am physically the child of one woman."

Loki was silent and fiercely curious.

"But unlike you, I have no father."

"You mean he left?"

Heimdall shook his head. "I have no father at all. My mother was… touched… by Yggdrasil herself." the man looked out to a band of stars that everyone knew as _The_ _Ash Branch_. Loki stared, puzzled.

The guardian returned his attention to Loki. "Many would call me Ӕsir, but they might be wrong."

Loki glanced warily at Heimdall, suddenly uneasy.

"I was born of an Ӕsir mother, yes…" Heimdall stared eerily at the young prince, almost as if he was seeing into his soul, "But all nine realms run through my veins."

Loki felt a chill run up his spine as Heimdall's fiery ember eyes bored into his own soft emerald ones.

"But how does that allow you to _see_ people?" Loki asked quietly.

Heimdall shifted. "People like me… whenever they come around… they tend to develop unusual abilities. It is no feat of magic that I see so far into Yggdrasil. It is part of who I am. And my responsibilities and my… stewardship."

Loki thought he saw Heimdall glance down at his own golden-bronze breastplate, but it seemed the guardian's stare had not wavered.

Loki nodded and looked again at the sky. It was now fully night and Loki realized that he may be missed. Sighing once more, he stood.

"Forgive me, Heimdall, for the hour is late and I should return to the palace."

The gatekeeper stood as well and they made their way back down to the bridge. Heimdall returned to his station and Loki gave an awkward smile as he turned and strode back toward the palace. The stars certainly were an interesting thing.

 ***Ehehehe. Get it? Dirty move… cuz it's dirt…**

 **Yeah, I'm just about dead by this point. End of semester sucks.**

 **DISCUSSION: So… Heimdall… any stirring revelations people? I mean. What is going on with his character amiright? AND SIGYN. Review what you think is going on in that department. Loki gets beat up and readers are happy because angst. That's why.**

 **Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated. Srsly. Plz Review.**


	19. Alley

**Hi there! I'm back! And fairly soon compared to my usual wait time. Yay! And now I'm resolving a cliffhanger! Double YAY! Uh... have fun I guess.**

 **Warnings: ... a body is floating in water...?**

 **NOTICE: THIS IS NOT A NORMAL UPDATE, I ADDED A PROLOGUE AND UPDATED SOME DETAILS IN THE REST OF THE STORY. Go ahead and read those if you want. That is the new content. As for this chapter, tis the same you last read.**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Alley**

Katia awoke with white hot fire in her lungs. She gasped painfully and sat up quickly. The young girl dry heaved for a moment, her body attempting to expel non-existent liquid. After a moment, the heaving stopped and Katia greedily sucked in giant gulps of air, trying to satisfy the need in her lungs. She was faintly aware of a hand gently patting her on the back.

Slowly, Katia gained an awareness of her surroundings. She hoped that maybe the whole ordeal had been a dream, but as she looked around, she realized that probably wasn't the case. Katia glanced around to see brick and grungy cement. Graffiti decorated the walls a little ways down what Katia now identified as an alley. Two people huddled around a wastebasket containing a small fire a few feet away. The eleven-year-old shivered, noticing the morning chill, even though she seemed to be bundled up in a bunch of ratty blankets and coats. Katia felt the hand on her back again and turned to see a woman behind her, supporting her.

"Wh- where?" Katia croaked before the woman cut her off.

"Shhshh. Calm down kid. Don't stress. You've probably been through a lot of recent trauma." There was a bit of a Brooklyn ring to her voice and Katia found it soothing.

The woman helped Katia stand and they made their way over to the fire. The two men crouched there looked up as the woman gently guided Katia to sit and then sat beside her.

Katia clutched the blankets tighter around her scrawny frame. She studied the people around her. She guessed from their scraggly appearances and the trash fire, that they were probably homeless. Sitting to her left was an older man, his wild hair a speckled grey in the dim light. He looked as though he had probably had at least one Asian parent. The old man smiled at Katia as her gaze swept over him and to the other man at the circle. Sitting across from her, he looked much younger than the old man, maybe in his twenties, though both of them sported a bit of tangled scruff. His dark skin made him almost invisible in the dull morning but Katia could make him out more and more as the sky got lighter. He grinned at her and tightened his own threadbare coat, huddling closer to the slightly pathetic flame.

Katia turned to look at the woman on her immediate right. She had dark hair that gave off a slight glint of wine red as the sun began to peek through the buildings. Along with pale skin graced with light freckles and a bit of dirt on her nose and jaw. Bright sepia eyes framed by dark lashes stared down at the young girl. As Katia got a better look at her, she realized the woman was actually more of a… teenager.

The teen gently pulled a bit of damp hair away from Katia's face.

"What's your name, kid?"

Katia hesitated. The teen spoke again. "It's okay, I'm Amber." she then gestured to the two men, "That's Yoshi and Ty."

The old man coughed, "My _real_ name is Hyun Min Shay." He pointed a thumb at Ty, "And that weirdo is actually his majesty, Tyrell Thomas Jefferson, founder of our nation, royal pain in the-"

"Yoshi." Amber cut him off with a glare and a nod towards the child sitting among them.

Katia giggled.

The gang all smiled as she spoke up.

"Katia. My name is Katia Larkford."

"Cool beans, kid." Amber fumbled. "Sounds like you got a bit of an accent there. Visiting from someplace over the big lake?"

Katia shrunk back and frowned. "Not on purpose." she said in a small voice.

They looked worriedly at her.

"Do you have a family?" Yoshi asked.

Katia shook her head, "Not anymore."

"Do you wanna tell us what happened? Why you're here?" Ty said carefully.

The girl paused for a moment. _Can I trust them? They have been nothing but kind to me… okay. Here goes._

She told them the whole story.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

… 2 hours earlier…

"Ty! Keep your grubby fingers out of the bag until we all eat!" Amber swiped the bag from said man's hands and sealed it, "The whole idea of an alliance is so we can _share_."

Ty shrugged, "I'm hungry."

"Aren't we all?" grumbled Yoshi.

The group had just collected their breakfast for the morning and were heading down to the river to eat.

Ty yawned. "Remind me why we like to get up so early?"

Amber looked at the dark sky. "I like to watch the sun rise on the water…"

Yoshi smiled softly.

Ty shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat…" He snickered, "Heh, get it? You know, water, boats-"

"Yeah yeah, we get it." Yoshi waved him off.

The gang shuffled through an empty alley and emerged on a cement walk a little ways from the edge of the river. They found a bench and made themselves comfy, pulling out the various foodstuffs they'd gathered, snuggling up in their coats against the October chill, and making small talk while they munched.

Amber sighed and bit into a sad squished-looking sandwich. She gazed out over the river and smiled. Manhattan looked up at her, warped in its reflection, and the city lights glistened and danced across the waves. She could just make out red and blue lights on the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance, a ways north. The sound of water lapping up against the shore was soothing. The only downside was the almost ever-present trash polluting the water.

Amber paused. _Speak of the devil, here comes a clump of… what is that?_

Something slightly larger than the normal collection of garbage was floating close to the edge of the water and bumping up against the bank.

Suddenly a horrible feeling arose in Amber's gut. "Guys… can you tell what that is?"

The men, previously absorbed in their food and conversation, now noticed and looked towards the bank.

"Kinda looks like cloth from here…" Ty suggested.

Amber stood and started making her way down to the water. As she neared the lump the horrible feeling amplified. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Amber blanched and sped up.

"Oh my gosh. it's a person!" she exclaimed in horror.

Yoshi paled and Ty swore. They dropped everything and rushed to help. The motley homeless group hurried to drag the limp body out of the water.

"It's a kid!" Amber said in a horrified whisper as they pulled the small girl to dry ground. Amber hurriedly checked the girl's pulse. "Oh my-, she's still alive!" The teen wasted no time in administering CPR.

"C'mon kid, don't die." She mumbled as she pumped her chest, "Don't die."

Ty and Yoshi watched worriedly as Amber gave the kid the breath of life and continued pumping her chest. Suddenly water spouted out of the little girl's mouth. She coughed up more liquid and Amber was quick to turn her to an angle where the water could come out and she could breathe.

The kid went limp again, but at least she was breathing.

The group all sat back, sighing in relief. They looked down at the now shivering unconscious child in their midst.

"We have to keep her warm, or hypothermia will set in, if it hasn't already." Yoshi said urgently.

The younger two nodded. Ty scooped the small girl into his arms and jogged back up the bank. Amber and Yoshi followed. They grabbed their stuff from the bench and made their way back into the alley they had come through earlier. Ty set the girl down softly near a wall.

Yoshi gave the orders. "Ty, give me your hoodie, then find some trash and build a fire. Amber, I need you to remove her wet clothing, if she's going to survive she needs to be dry." Ty handed him his large dark blue hoodie. Yoshi nodded thanks and handed it to Amber. "Now if you'll all give me one or two of your coats and all your blankets. We'll be a bit cold but she needs it more than we do."

Everyone complied without complaint. Amber quickly changed the unconscious girl into Ty's hoodie, frowning in concern as she noticed the child's almost painfully thin frame laced with silvery scars. The hoodie was practically a full dress on her.

Yoshi gathered together all their spare coats and blankets- which weren't much but they'd have to do- and made a little bed or cocoon ready for the kid. Ty had found a wastebasket and a bunch of paper and loose wood from a discarded palette, and was in the process of lighting a fire with it.

Yoshi gently lay the child in the blankets and wrapped her up snuggly while Amber collected the wet clothing and laid it out on some crates.

The fire was now going and the boys huddled closest to it while Amber scooted the little bed a little closer to the small flame. The teen stroked the young girl's wet red hair and listened as the men discussed what to do.

"We should probably take her in to the police, she must have a family missing her." Ty said.

Yoshi frowned. "I don't know, we all still need to kind of keep off the radar because of our latest… incident. We should wait until she wakes up and ask her some questions."

Ty nodded and Amber looked down at the kid's head in her lap. She felt an oddly overwhelming sense that she needed to protect the small thing, from both the dangers of the streets and from those in the law. Not that they were bad people. She just felt that wasn't where the kid needed to be.

"Guys, I-" Amber was cut off as the girl sat up gasping for air.

 **YAY! Be excited guys. I've been waiting to introduce these characters. More fun times to come!**

 **On a different, more random note: Turns out I have one of the few stories that list Spidey as one of the main characters. Fun when it makes you easy to find.**


	20. The Decision

**Hello lovelies. I... know that I am utterly awful. I'm really trying to be better about updating but, man, this is harder than I thought.**

 **Anyway. Welcome back.**

 **Caveman: Thanks for the reviews. I love that you love it. I promise all will be revealed in time. ;)**

 **JupitorTyler: I swear this is all going to make sense.**

 **Uhhhh...**

 **Warnings: ? idk... not really anything big.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen: Decision**

"So you're telling me," Ty started incredulously, "That you're a British-American genius, who's rich uncle got murdered, so you ran off into the woods, fell asleep, woke up in America, went to the cops, who then didn't believe you, then found out it was three years later than you thought it was, panicked, ran from the cops, _jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, and then SURVIVED?_ "

Katia had shrunk down as Ty had ranted. She half-grimaced, half-grinned as she let out a timid "I think?"

They had all listened patiently with wide eyes while Katia had told her story, not knowing whether she was crazy, disoriented from the fall, or -hardest to swallow- telling the truth.

"Well you're going to have to do a little better than 'I think'." Amber said warily.

Katia's face crumpled a bit. "Honestly I'm not sure what's happening either."

Amber's eyes softened a bit.

"Would…" Ty paused, uncertain, "would you… _like_ us to bring you back to the police…?"

The eleven-year-old shook her head vigorously. "No. no. There's no way they'll ever believe me. They'll put me in a foster home and try to medicate me back to 'normal.' I can't do that."

The group sat in silence for a moment. Amber didn't speak as she handed Katia a bag of doritos and then stood, beckoning her fellow hobos.

"Give us a minute, kid." the teenager said quietly.

Katia gave a thin smile and opened the chips, tasting a few and wrinkling her nose, but eating them anyway.

Ty puffed out his cheeks and blew out a long breath. "Oh man. What the heck are we getting into?"

"We're not getting into anything just yet." Yoshi stated. "We haven't decided if she's staying."

Amber sighed. "Let's just look at our options. First, we take her to the police."

"But-" Amber cut Ty off.

"I didn't say it was a _nice_ option. It's just _an_ option." She paused. "Second, we could drop her at one of the homeless shelters in the area… and let her fend for herself."

Yoshi shifted uncomfortably.

"Third, I guess we could leave her at any random school and let them figure it out."

Ty shook his head silently.

Amber glanced uncertain between her friends. "Or option Four. We let her stick with us for an undetermined amount of time…"

The group leaned in closer as Ty began to talk in a low whisper. "Honestly, Four seems like the best option, but we have _no idea_ how this could affect our operations."

They glanced at the young girl who was now shaking the empty dorito bag over her head, staring in disappointment at its lack of contents.

Amber looked at Yoshi with an odd expression. "You look like you've already made your decision."

The Korean-American folded his arms and gave the slightest smile. "... I like her."

The teen looked back to Ty. He simply shrugged.

"Ah. What the heck." Amber gave in.

The hobos returned to sit in front of Katia.

"We've made a decision and we hope you're okay with it." Amber stated.

Katia looked at them curiously, waiting for them to continue.

Ty spoke next. "How about you stick with us for a week…" he glanced at his friends, "and we see how things are working and roll from there?"

The scrawny redhead's face split into a grin. "I'd like that very much."

* * *

 **That's all for now. Sorry it's so short. This one is actually short on purpose. The next chapter will be big in more ways than one. :)**


	21. Finch

**Hey. *sheepish grin* Long time no see. Uh. I'm sorry for taking so long to update with so little. It's just some major plot changes are happening and I haven't been able to get around to actual writing. So here's a bit of a filler chapter. It does give you info though. So pay attention.**

 **Chapter 20: Finch**

 _Edgar Finch gasped and fell to his knees as the side of an assault rifle hit the side of his head. A trickle of blood made its way down his wrinkled face as he stared into the face of his captor._

 _A tall sandy-haired man looked down on the old man with an expression of of anger and mild disgust. He and the two other attackers in the room were dressed in dark, combat attire._

 _Finch met the man's eyes with the steely expression of a trained -if former- agent of SHIELD._

 _He let out a small chuckle, "So what brings such promising young folks to attack an old man?"_

" _Cut the crap, Finch." The man growled. "Where's the kid?"_

 _Edgar ignored the question. "Who are you? Who sent you?"_

 _The tall man grinned ferally, "The name's Jason Ryker." he crouched down to Edgar's level, "And I was sent by someone who is_ very _interested in that little brat you're hiding."_

" _I'm not hiding anyone." Finch said steadily._

 _The old man's head flew to the side as Ryker's fist connected to his cheek. The hostile man grabbed Edgar's thin hair and forced him to look back at his attacker._

" _Where. Is. The. Kid!?" Ryker shouted._

 _Edgar blinked rapidly. He could only hope that Katia would sense something wrong as she arrived home and run._

 _Ryker released the man with disgust. "Alright, this will be fun." The sandy-haired man stood and drew his handgun._

 _Finch's eyes widened slightly as Ryker aimed. A shot rang out and the old man cried out, a bullet in his leg._

" _Where is the girl?" Ryker said angrily._

 _Finch was white with pain. He said nothing. Ryker rolled his eyes and fired another shot into the man's shoulder. The veteran agent silently shook._

" _I'm getting impatient old man!" Ryker warned._

 _There was a minute of silence before Ryker's face reddened and twisted in rage._

 _A shot rang out again and Finch slumped over, a bullet in his gut this time._

" _WHERE" - another shot- "IS" -another- "THE" -blood decorated the stained oak floor- "CHILD!"_

 _A final shot caused Finch to collapse onto his stomach immediately._

 _Ryker cursed. "Blasted handguns. Got his heart." He turned his attention to the man with the rifle. "Search the house. If she's not here, start sweeping the woods."_

 _The dark-haired man nodded and strode out the door, passing the woman that had been guarding the door. She followed and Ryker wasn't far behind._

 _The girl had been clever. She knew the forest far better than their team and they had the disadvantage of being on foot._

 _Not long after the sun had set, they saw a flash of light off the path. At the location they found the girl's bike, crumpled beneath a large Ash… and a dagger, driven into the side of the magnificent tree._

 _The girl was gone._


End file.
